Returning Home
by Elizabeth Kelly
Summary: [GSR] How do you forget the past, when the past come back to haunt you? WIP Post Bloodlines
1. Chapter One

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

A/N: Post Bloodlines

* * *

_**Returning Home**_

_By Elizabeth Kelly_

**Chapter One**

"Sara, you need to calm down." Sara was pacing the floor furiously.

"He is going to get away with it! He abducted her, kept her in a closet for six months and tortured her when ever he felt like it, until he killed her, and now he is going to get away, because of a stupid technicality!"

"Sara, you know the law as well as I do, we did the best we could!" Grissom raised his voice.

"We did not do the best we could, if we did Peter Hamill would be rotting in a jail cell and little Elsie Graham would have the justice she deserved." Grissom sighed. Many a grown man would have cowered under the glare that she was giving him now. Not, Grissom. "How the hell are you managing to stay calm, throughout all of this!"

"Sara, you can't make this case personal. We cannot afford evidence to being compromised. I know you are hurting, but there is nothing we can do. We will just have to wait and catch him next time." Grissom watched as silent tears poured down Sara's face.

"She was six years old Grissom." Grissom stepped forward and enveloped her in a hug.

"I know, but you can't keep doing this, Sara." Sara abruptly pulled back from his embrace, her eyes flashing with anger.

"I cannot believe you, I will not stop and I will never give up," she said through gritted teeth, before turning and storming out of his office and slamming the door behind her.

Grissom closed his eyes and sighed, deep down he understood Sara's pain. In the past five years he had secretly never stopped looking. Grissom had just returned to the seat behind his desk, when Catherine entered his office.

"Don't you ever knock?" he asked, frustration creeping into his voice.

"Sometimes," she replied.

"What can I do for you Catherine?"

"You need to talk to Sara," she said sitting down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"I just did."

"Gil, that wasn't talking, that was a screaming match. I could hear you from the DNA Lab. You need to sit down and talk about whatever it is that has her so worked up," Catherine paused, while she stood up and headed for the door. "You need to talk to her for the good of the lab and our working environment, not to mention her own well being." Catherine left his office before he could say anything.

"How do you ask someone to let go of the past?" Grissom asked his empty office.

* * *

She had worked so many cases. She had seen so many lives torn apart. She had seen the pain and the suffering. She thought it would get easier with time. She had never been more wrong about anything in her entire life. Some cases stuck out in her mind, Elsie Graham's was one of them. It was during cases like these, that Sara lost faith in human kind. How could someone do things like that to other human beings? How could someone rob a child of their innocence? What right did Peter Hamill have in treating Elsie Graham like a play toy?

Sara sat in her armchair, a cup of tea in her hand, using all her will power to refrain from showing her frustration. The memories of Elsie Graham's body on the slab in the morgue and lying in the desert made Sara go racing for the bathroom. Leaning with her back against the bath, her head in her hands, Sara struggled with the compulsion to kill Peter Hamill.

Crawling into bed she cried herself to sleep. Nightmares plagued her slumber, Elsie's deathly pale face contorting into a more familiar one. Sirens, flashing lights, and urgent voices invaded her mind. It was the fear that woke her. Throwing back the covers, she ran to the dresser in the corner, and wrenched the bottom open, pulling out a medium sized box. Standing, she carried the box back to the bed, each piece of the contents, providing her with another memory of happier times.

* * *

Grissom sat behind his desk, staring at the photo in his hands. He hadn't been as unaffected by the case as Sara so readily believed. He remained lost in his thoughts for an unknown length of time, when a knock at the door brought him out of his reverie.

"Catherine?" he asked looking at her.

"I don't know if you have looked at the clock recently, but shift started ten minutes ago, and we were just wondering if you forgot to mention that we had the night off?" Grissom scowled at her.

"I'll be there in a minute." Catherine nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Opening the bottom drawer of his desk, he placed his treasured object back inside the draw, to look at another time.

Walking into the break room, he glanced at Sara. He wasn't surprised when she met his gaze. She looked calmer than the last time they spoke, and for that he was grateful. He wondered how long it was going to last. A flash caught his eye, and he looked up from the assignments in his hand to find out where it came from, the source was seemingly unaware of his distraction. Frowning, he made a mental note to talk to her, before returning to the matters at hand.

"Nick, Warrick, you have a 419 in the desert, take Greg with you," he said handing Nick the slip of paper.

"Sure thing, Boss," Nick drawled.

"Come on, man," Warrick called from the hallway.

"What do we have?" Catherine asked, curious as to the assignment she was to be given.

"We have a kidnapping." Catherine raised her eyebrow, and glanced at Sara.

"Sure, I'll just go get my stuff." Catherine stood up and left, leaving Sara alone with Grissom.

"Will you be right to take this case?" he asked as gently as possible.

"Sure, no sweat," she gave him a fake smile before heading out of the door. Sighing Grissom followed Sara out of the door.

* * *

"I don't understand, are you saying that there is no kidnapping?" Brass asked the girl standing in front of him. She gave him an exasperated sigh.

"No, I'm saying that I am the one that was kidnapped!" she said her voice was dry and raspy. Brass looked over and saw that Sara, Grissom and Catherine had arrived excusing himself, he walked over to meet them.

"Hey guys," he greeted them.

"What's with the lack of action?" Catherine asked curiously. Normally kidnappings were buzzing with activity.

"It appears we have a kidnapping in reverse," Brass explained, adjusting his tie.

"What do you mean?" Grissom asked.

"We have the victim."

"So are we still needed?" Catherine queried.

"Look can you quit talking and do something? She is out there with him and now I'm not there to protect her." A loud voice spoke from behind Sara. Turning around the group took in the dishevelled appearance of the girl before them. She was about fifteen years of age, her long blonde hair looked like it hadn't been washed or brushed in days, and her clothes were dirty and didn't fit properly.

"Whose out there with whom?" Grissom asked.

"Maddie, he has Maddie." Grissom noticed Sara stiffen slightly.

"Who is he?" Sara asked.

"Father," the girl replied.

"Your Father?" Catherine asked.

"No, that's what he made us call him." The girl rolled her eyes as though it was obvious.

"What's your name?" Grissom asked.

"Emily, Emily Guthrie."

Sara's kit crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Brass and Catherine turned to look at her. She remained deathly still.

"Emily Rachel Guthrie, one of two children kidnapped October 1999, from St. Michael's Elementary School, Brisbane, San Francisco. Ten years of age at the time of the kidnapping," Grissom said slowly and quietly more to himself than anyone else.

Emily stared at him.

"How did you know?" she questioned, defensively.

"Where's Maddie?" Sara asked racing forward, to grab a hold of the girls shoulders. "Where is she?" she asked again. Emily stared at Sara, fear flooding her eyes.

"I- I don't know, I managed to escape. I promised her that I would get help, but I have no idea where they are. He would have moved after discovering that I escaped."  
"Why didn't you bring Maddie with you?" Sara asked, desperation creeping into her voice.

"There was only the opportunity for one of us to escape, and she wasn't strong enough to do it, and even if she was, her ears would have been a problem. She…"

"Her ears? What's wrong with her ears?" Grissom asked, entering into the interrogation.

"She began losing her hearing about six months after we were kidnapped. She is now practically deaf."

"Why is she weak?" Sara whispered, dreading the answer.

"She had a bad case of the flu, I begged him to take her to a doctor, but he wouldn't. He thought they a doctor might recognise her. That was about six months ago. She's still fighting it."

"Oh, God, Maddie," Sara sank onto her knees. Tears that had been building in Sara's eyes crashed down in face in shuddering sobs. Forgetting momentarily where he was and who he was, Grissom went to her and put his arms around her, pulling her into him.

"Wait, what's going on here?" Catherine asked, as an equally confused Brass stared a Grissom and Sara like they had grown two heads. "Whose Maddie?"

"Our daughter," Grissom replied, pulling Sara closer.

* * *

AN: Ok, so here's the first chapter, hope you like it. If you want, let me know what you think. (Nothing too harsh though.) 


	2. Chapter Two

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

A/N: This story is post Bloodlines. (I kind of forgot to say that before, sorry.)

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"You're Maddie's parents?" Emily asked. Then looking slightly relieved, she continued. "She talks about you both all the time."

"You have a daughter?" Catherine asked, as Grissom gently rock the sobbing Sara.

"Yeah, she turns eleven next month," he replied.

"You have a eleven-year-old daughter?" Brass cut in, looking at Sara then at Grissom.

"Yes, so stop standing around here and DO SOMETHING!" Sara yelled in frustration.

"You know you can't…" Catherine trailed off.

"We know, Catherine," Grissom interrupted her, his voice softer than Sara's.

"I'll call Nick and Warrick," Brass said heading over towards his car.

Catherine took Emily over towards a waiting ambulance to process any evidence found on the girl, leaving Sara and Grissom alone.

Grissom ran one hand through Sara's hair, as the other gently rubbed her back. He felt conflicted at the number of different emotions he felt all at the one time. Happy to hear that she was alive, sad in knowing that she wasn't able to escape as well, fear for her life, worry for the pain that she must be feeling, guilt for wishing it was Maddie and not Emily who had managed to escape and anger towards the man who kidnapped his baby girl. He could only imagine how Sara must be feeling. As much as he loved Maddie and as much as he knew she loved him, she was her mother's daughter. They had always been very close.

Grissom knew that Sara had a troubled past, and he knew that Sara would readily give up her life, in order for Maddie to live a better life then the one she had. When Maddie was taken, Sara had been devastated. She was unable to sleep, or eat properly for months. From then on, Sara had backed away from contact with all small children. Each one held a reminder of the little girl she had lost.

Sara's sobs had quietened to small sniffles. Grissom pulled back, to look into her face.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, it's just… even though I hadn't stopped looking, I had all but given up hope, you know?" she replied, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"Yeah, I know."

"She's deaf, our poor little girl had to go through that all alone!" She forced the fresh batch of tears back.

"I'm so sorry, Sara," Grissom apologized. Sara looked at him blankly.

"What are you sorry about?" she asked.

"Everything," he responded quietly.

"You're blaming yourself for her hearing aren't you?" Grissom avoided looking into Sara's eyes. "Grissom, we both knew about your mother's hearing going into the pregnancy. I knew that there was a chance that she may be born deaf. Fortunately, she was able to hear for a number of years before it all disappeared."

"She could have had the surgery that…"

"That you had?" Sara finished for him. He looked surprised that she knew. "We both know that it's a surgery still in its final testing stage. There was no way a doctor would perform that surgery on a little girl."

"I know," Grissom nodded in agreement.

They were silent for a few moments as they took in the hustle and bustle around them.

"I keep trying to picture what she would be like now. How tall she would be, how smart she is, what she would look like. What her favourite movies are, her idols, you know?" Sara wondered aloud.

"Me too," Grissom replied. "She was the one thing we did right." Sara nodded.

Grissom ran his hands down her arms and took a hold of her hands.

"You're wearing it," he said, and Sara gave him a confused look. Then following his gaze, she gasped.

"Oh, God, I forgot that I had put it on." She looked back up at Grissom, and he looked at her for an explanation. "I was going through a box of our old stuff, Maddie's stuff, and I found it. I'm sorry," she apologised.

"You don't owe me an apology, for wearing something that is yours." His hand brushed her cheek.

Any further actions were interrupted by a small cough behind them. They stood up and turned around to see Emily standing behind them.

"Hey, Emily, listen, I'm sorry if I seemed rude before. It's just…" Sara began before Emily interrupted,

"No, it's fine, really. I know that you were concerned for Maddie. Truth is so am I."

"How are you holding up?" Grissom asked her gently.

"You know, I'll be better when Mom and Dad get here," she smiled politely.

"They were so worried about you," Grissom informed her. "They made pests of themselves down at the police station, asking about you and the progress that they were making." Emily smiled.

"That seems like the Mom and Dad I remember." There was silence for a moment, as they each thought for something to say. "I- I just wanted to let you know that she is a remarkable person, Maddie is," Emily said. "Out of the two of us she was the strongest in the beginning. She is still strong mentally, and as stubborn as anything." Grissom chuckled.

"Just like her mother." Sara weakly punched him in the arm.

"Father, would try to get us to believe that he was our parent and that our other parents didn't love us. When he left us alone at night, Maddie would tell me stories of you guys and she would force me to tell stories of my parents. She didn't want Father to be our parent, she knew that you both loved her very much and that you would never give her up."

"She remembered," Sara whispered.

"What?" Grissom asked, curious as to what she was talking about.

"The night before she was taken, she asked why you weren't home. I told her that you were at work. She asked what you did, and I said you solved puzzles to put the bad guys away. Somehow, the conversation got round to child abandonment. She asked me if I would ever abandon her. I gave her a hug and I told her that you and I wouldn't give her up for anything in the world." A single tear slipped down Sara's face.

"I think telling the stories is what kept us going," she paused and looked down at her feet. "She would always say, 'I hope mum is making her blueberry pancakes for breakfast,' or 'Daddy says he is going to let me feed his bugs this afternoon'. I probably would have given up long ago, if it weren't for Maddie." Tears fell down Emily's face. Sara walked over to her and put an arm around her.

Grissom watched the women cling to each other.

"We all need to be strong for Maddie, she needs us, now more than ever, okay?" The girls nodded.

* * *

"Say what?" Warrick said staring at Catherine and Brass, his mouth open in disbelief. 

"I said Grissom and Sara have a child together!" Greg's eyes looked as though they were ready to pop out of his head.

"A child?" Nick questioned, shaking his head as though to wake him from this bizarre dream.

"A eleven-year-old daughter," Brass confirmed chuckling at the looks on the boys faces.

"A eleven-year-old daughter?" Nick repeated.

"That means…" Greg began before being cut off by Warrick.

"That Nick owes me a hundred big ones." Dumbfounded, Nick pulled a hundred dollars out of his wallet and handed it over to a gleeful Warrick.

"I told you man, there was way too much sexual tension for them not to have done it."

"Guys we need to focus, there is a missing little girl out there, who is very important to two of our friends. So I suggest we get to work and find her," Catherine spoke up. "Warrick you and I will talk to Sara and Grissom, Nick you and Greg talk to Emily. Try and find out where they've been, who they've had contact with, what they have been doing for the last five years and where she thinks he might take her." The team nodded at Catherine.

"I'll get in touch with the S.F.P.D., we'll need the old case files. I'll see you guys later. Give Gil and Sara my best, will you!" Brass called to them as they walked over towards the group of three in the distance.

Nick, Warrick, Greg and Catherine, slowly approached Grissom, Sara and Emily, clearly not wanting to interrupt the discussion they seemed to be having. Grissom noticed their approach and looked up, giving them a weak smile.

"Hey, Grissom, Sara, we're really sorry, we had no idea…" Nick began, Sara cut him off.

"It's ok, Nicky. We thought it was best not to tell anyone. We thought we would never see her again." Nick walked over to her and put his arms around her, as Sara's eyes began to water.

"Hey, it's okay, darlin'. I understand. If you ever need anything, you call me ok?" Sara nodded. Warrick approached as Nick left to talk to Grissom.

"I'm so sorry, girl. What's her name?" Warrick asked.

"Madeleine. Madeleine Charlotte Grissom," Sara replied a small smile played on her lips.

"It's a beautiful name," he replied giving her a hug.

"Thank you," came the muffled response from his shoulder.

Sara looked up at Greg, the moment Warrick had left her side. He looked like he was unsure of what to feel.

"Greg?" Sara called, walking over to him.

"Hey, Sara, I'm sorry about your daughter," he said shifting his weight.

"Thank you," she replied. She watched him fidget. "Greg, what's the matter?"

"It's just you and Grissom with a child, I just can't picture it." Sara smiled faintly.

"It was a long time ago, Greg, circumstances change. Grissom and I are nothing like what we used to be."

"I'm gonna do my best to find her for you, for both of you." Sara placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Thank you, Greg."

Greg watched as Sara walked back towards Grissom. Grissom placed a hand on her lower back and directed her towards his car. Sighing, Greg shook his head, as if to remove his thoughts and headed over to where Nick was waiting.

* * *

A/N: So, that's Chapter Two up. I haven't finished writing Chapter Three yet, so it may take a little while. But, I promise to try and have it done ASAP. I hope you are enjoying it. Let me know what you think. 


	3. Chapter Three

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Sara glanced around the room. It looked different from this side of the table. She hadn't realised that the changing of angles would result in such a different perspective. For starters, she was face to face with the mirror image of herself. She cringed at her appearance; puffy red eyes, pale skin, faint mascara tracks down her face. She lifted her hand up and tried to wipe the stubborn black smears away.

Replacing her hands back in her lap, she unconsciously began to ring them. Grissom, who was sitting next to her, placed his hand over hers in order to refrain her movement. Obediently, she complied, and he squeezed her hands gently, before taking her left hand into his and interlocking their fingers. Sara stared to their joined hands, then looked up at Grissom. He shrugged, squeezed her hand again, but didn't let go. Sara was dying to ask who this was and what did he do with Grissom, but she had a funny feeling that she would know his answer.

The door to the interrogation room opened suddenly, and Sara, expecting Grissom to let go of her hand, released him from her grip. However, his hand remained firmly in place. She stared at Grissom for a few more moments, before turning her attention to Catherine and Warrick who has just entered the room.

"Hey guys, sorry to do this to you," Warrick apologised, taking the seat opposite Sara. Catherine sat down beside him, opposite Grissom.

"It's fine," Grissom replied. Sara looked down at her hands again.

Catherine took in the sight before her. Grissom holding Sara's hand, his fingers intertwined with hers. If anyone had told Catherine about this earlier today, she would have laughed at them. Grissom, the socially inept, geeky, enigmatic workaholic and Sara, the fiery, emotional, intelligent workaholic, a couple? How had they managed to breed? She had known that there were feelings between the two. She had encouraged Grissom to act on them. She never would have guess that he already had.

Breaking from her thoughts, Catherine remembered the reason why they were all in this room.

"I need you to tell me about the day Madeleine disappeared," Catherine spoke gently. Grissom opened his mouth to answer, but surprisingly Sara spoke first.

"It was a typical morning, I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I remember, because Maddie got blueberry and syrup stains down the front of her uniform. It nearly caused us to be late for school. Grissom left for work at eight, we left not long after. I walked her to class, kissed her goodbye and that… that was the last time I ever saw her." Sara's eyes welled up. Tears once again fell down her cheeks. Grissom put an arm around Sara's shoulder and pulled her towards him, allowing her to bury her face into his neck.

"So you two were living together?" Catherine asked, partly because she had to and partly because she was dying to know what had happened between the two.

"Yes," Grissom answered his eyes on Sara.

"When did you find out that Madeleine was missing?" Warrick asked.

"It was my team that got the call, at around 1:30. Two girls didn't show up for class after lunch. I started to worry when I heard that they had disappeared from St Michael's, but I didn't want to alarm Sara. When we arrived they told me the names of the missing girls and that's when I removed myself from the case and called Sara."

"Where were you Sara?" Catherine asked.

"I was at work," came the muffled reply.

"Where did you work?" Warrick asked. Sara pulled away from Grissom, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"The coroner's office." Her voice sounded flat, Grissom took up her hand again.

"What did you do when you found out?" Catherine questioned.

"My, uh, boss, took me down to the school. I was in no state to drive. I found Grissom and we went to the police station. We were questioned separately then released. Afterwards, we went home," Sara answered.

"Have either of ever received any form of communication from the kidnapper. Any form of ransom demand?"

"No," Grissom answered as Sara shook her head.

Listening to Sara and Grissom talk, Catherine couldn't imagine going through what they had been through. Catherine knew that despite their recent rough patch, she wouldn't survive without Lindsey.

"Ok, you know this is going to be difficult, and we may never find her," Catherine paused, letting that realisation sink in. "But we are going to do everything we can, to make sure that she returns home safely."

The silence that hung in the air was then broken by the ringing of Catherine's cell phone.

* * *

Emily looked around the office, it was a nice office. There were flags and certificates on the wall, and the desk was neat and tidy. She sat on her father's lap, her head buried into his shoulder, her right hand was held captive by her mother's firm grip. It had been a teary reunion. Her parent's hadn't let go of her since they laid eyes on her. Not that she was complaining, it was good to be back. She felt strange though, she last saw her parents five years ago. She had changed a lot in those few years. She was now thirteen-years-old, no longer the immature eight-year-old. 

The sound of the door opening brought Emily out of her musings. Brass strode over to his desk and sat down. Nick and Greg followed behind him, Nick leant against the filing cabinet as Greg came to a standstill beside Brass' desk.

"Hi Emily, my name is Jim, and this is Nick and Greg," Brass indicated to them respectively. "I know that you probably want to spent time with your parents, but I need to ask you some questions, so that we can find Madeleine, is that ok?"

"Anything to help find Maddie," Emily replied in a timid voice.

"Why don't we start at the very beginning, tell us everything you can remember," Nick suggested. Emily nodded, casting her mind back to that day at school.

"I don't remember all of it, some things are… fuzzy."

"It's ok, sweetheart, just try your best, alright?" Nick replied warmly. Emily nodded.

"I remember playing in the playground. My friends and I were playing hide-and-go-seek. I ran to hide behind the building. He grabbed me from behind, placed his hand over my mouth, and carried me to a small room at the side of the building. I can't remember what sort of room it was. It was dark, but I saw Maddie tied up with tape across her mouth before he shut the door. I don't know how long we sat in the closet, but eventually we left. The bell must have gone for the end of lunch, because there was no one on the playground anymore. He took us out one by one to a car parked on the side road.

"We were put in the trunk of the car, and we drove for what felt like hours. Finally he stopped at this deserted motel. We were let out of the boot, and he took us to the room. That's when he told us, that we were going to be his new daughters. He said our real parents didn't love us, and that he did, and that he was going to take care of us. Maddie, stood up to him, she said that he wasn't our father and nor would he ever be. She received a lashing for it." Emily paused, she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Her father hugged her tighter, and her mother caressed her face.

"You're doing great Emily," Greg said giving her an encouraging smile.

"Can you tell us anything about the man who kidnapped you?" Brass asked.

"He's about his height," she said pointing to Nick. "And he has light brown hair, green eyes, and he wears glasses. He's a strict Catholic, he made us learn the bible. He gave us new names, Abigail and Rebekah."

"Which one were you?" Greg asked.

"I was Rebekah, Maddie was Abigail. If he heard us calling each other by our real names, we would have to read the bible out loud until he told us to stop. We only called each other by our real names at night, when we were alone. It felt like we were playing characters. Whenever we were near him, we were Abigail and Rebekah the bible reading girls, but when we were by ourselves we were Maddie and Emily plotting our escape. We detest those names.

"We only stayed at the motel that one night. He then drove across the country. We were in Miami for a bit, then Atlanta, then New York… no then Washington DC, then New York, Chicago, uh… Seattle,… L.A., then we came here... i think, I can't remember all of the places. We would stay for about six months then we would move again."

"What about schools?" Brass asked. Emily shook her head.

"He said schools were dangerous and that someone might try to take us. He taught us at home. He said education was important."

"What was a typical day like for you?" Nick asked curiously.

"We would wake up, eat, then have lessons from nine till twelve, normally maths and science in the morning. We would then have lunch and a break till one and then it was English and history till three. Then he would take us out, for ice-cream or to the park, or the beach."

"Did you ever try to get away during those times?" Greg wondered.

"No he was always watching us, he always made sure he was near by," Emily sighed.

"Did you ever try to tell someone that you were in trouble?" Brass asked.

"Yes, but no one would believe us. Mostly we would tell other kids. Father wouldn't let us near any adults. But the kids would call us liars. We tried in every state." Emily sniffled, her emotions getting the better of her.

"How did you manage to escape?" Brass asked her.

"At every new place, Maddie and I would search for a way out. But we could never find one. The apartment we were in here, was on the third story. Unlike all the other places, our bedroom had a faulty window, and you could open it up and crawl through it. Fortunately, there was a drain pipe outside our window. We planned, to escape together, but Maddie just wasn't strong enough to do it. The flu had left her very weak. She insisted that I go, so I did. I crept out of the window, and crept down the drain pipe, then ran for my life. I kept running for a long time, I got into the city before I slowed down. Then I tried to find a pay phone to call the police."

"Do you know the address of the apartment in Vegas?" Nick asked. Emily shook her head.

"We only moved here a couple of weeks ago."

"What about what it was near, can you remember anything specific?" Emily furrowed her brow in concentration.

"It was out of the city a little bit, closer to the suburbs. I remember seeing a neon sign while I was running…"

"This is Vegas there are neon signs everywhere," Greg grumbled.

"Do you remember what was on the sign?" Nick asked glaring at Greg.

"It said something about weddings and Elvis?" She shrugged.

"Anything else?" Brass asked suppressing a smile.

"There was a mini-mart just down the road from the apartment, and there is a park across from it."

"How big is the park?" Nick asked.

"It's not that big, there is a swing set, a slippery slide and a basketball court." Nick frowned slightly.

"Are there any other stores or schools or anything in the area?"

"I think there is a school the next block over, cause sometimes, during the day you can hear the children playing. Oh, there is also an ice cream place next to the mini-mart… um… Paul's… Phillip's… Patrick's…"

"Peter's?" Nick supplied.

"Yeah, that's it. Peter's Ice Cream Parlour." Emily smiled.

"Oh, man," Nick muttered under his breath, staring at the ground.

"What is it Nicky?" Brass asked. Nick looked up.

"I know where they are."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, I love you all! I hope you are enjoying the story and that it isn't a little too far-fetched. If you want, let me know what you think. (Nothing too harsh though) I haven't started Chapter Fouryet, but I promise to have it done as soon as I can. 


	4. Chapter Four

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Brass stood by the closed door, his gun clenched in his hand. Four uniformed cops stood right behind him, and Warrick and Nick stood behind them, both of them with one hand holding their kit and the other on the butt of their gun. The sound of Brass's knuckles on the hard wooden door echoed down the stairwell.

"L.V.P.D. open up!" his voice yelled through the door, no response came. Brass counted down from three on his fingers. When he reached one, they busted the door open. Guns drawn and ready the uniforms and Brass searched the apartment. Thirty seconds later, Brass came out to give Nick and Warrick the all clear.

Cautiously they entered the apartment. It had the look of a place whose tenant left in a hurry. Books and newspapers were scattered all over the ground, the garbage hadn't been taken out, clothes scattered the floor.

"Man, he left in a hurry," Warrick commented, picking up a shirt lying on the ground.

"Yeah, one of his victims escaped. He had to of known that she would go to the police," Nick pointed out, photographing a map on the floor of the main room.

"I got a map of Frisco," Nick held up the map for Warrick.

"Check it for prints." Nick had just begun printing the map when Brass walked back into the room, from the hallway.

"Guys, you might want to see this." Warrick and Nick looked up from what they were doing.

"You go, I'm getting this print." Warrick nodded, stood up and followed Brass into one of the bedrooms.

"Oh, my God," Warrick gasped walking into the bedroom of the two girls.

"Nick!" Brass called.

"Hang on, I just got to get this print," Nick called back. Brass's gaze travelled around the room, words escaping him. Warrick had his flashlight fixed on one of the walls of the girls' bedroom.

"Nicky, you're gonna want to see this," Warrick managed. Muttering, Nick walked into the room, before coming to a sudden stop.

"Jesus," he muttered.

"I think you'll find him on the cross," Brass commented dryly, pointing to the large crucifix on the wall by the door. Next to the two foot tall crucifix, was a single bloody handprint. The window on the opposite wall had been broken, the early morning moonlight reflecting off the blood on the shards of glass sprinkling the floor. Posters covered the walls of the bedroom, not the usual posters seen in the room of teenage girls. All sprouted quotes from the bible, with relevant drawings in the background. Each nightstand held a battered copy of the bible.

A framed copy of the Ten Commandments hung behind the bed of each girl, and the dresser in the corner was covered in framed photographs, some of the two girls, others of a woman; one with two toddlers, another two showed a baby wrapped in a blanket. Brass couldn't help the feeling of suffocation that seemed to have taken a hold of him. He could only imagine what the girls had gone through those last five years.

Warrick followed a trail of blood from the window to the door, with his flashlight. Nick bent down to look at a pool of what looked to be vomit on the floor by the bed. No words seemed right for the situation, so they silently agreed to say nothing and all three got to work. There was a little girl out there, and it was time she returned home.

* * *

"Can you tell me Father's real name?" Catherine had taken over the questioning of Emily, when Brass took Nick and Warrick with him to the apartment.

"No, he never mentioned it."

"Did he give you and Maddie a last name?" she asked, gently.

"Isaacs," she replied.

"Was he ever violent towards you?" Emily shook her head.

"No, it was strange. He always seemed to treat us like we were his real daughters. He would tell us stories about our 'mother' and about the days that we were born, and about things that we did when we were little. He always made it sound so real, but we knew that it wasn't true."

"What did he say about 'Mother'?" Greg questioned, softly. Emily's brow furrowed in deep thought.

"He was always telling us about how kind she was. He told us that God had chosen her for a special task, and that she wouldn't be around anymore." Catherine looked at Greg her eyebrow raised in question.

"Got a theory, Greg?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I gotta do some research." Greg, abruptly left the room.

"He's becoming more and more like Grissom everyday," Catherine commented to herself.

* * *

The night had been tiring and emotional for everyone. Grissom had been watching Sara for the last half-hour. She hadn't spoken a word, as she paced his office. Up and down, up and down, Grissom thought it would have annoyed him after awhile, yet the movement seemed to soothe him. He watched as she nervously fiddled with the ring on her finger, twisting it round and round. He knew that it meant she was thinking and remembering. He allowed himself to drift back to the past, to a time when things had been so much better, a time when Sara and Madeleine were his world, a time when he wasn't the bitter, twisted, old man trying to work out why everything went wrong.

He had thought that they would survive anything together. He had thought that their love for each other would not falter. The loss of their daughter had torn them apart. He tried to understand when Maddie had become the glue in their relationship, holding everything together.

He watched her pace, fresh tears falling down her face, the constant battle of emotions that seemed to have taken a hold of her. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and never let go. Then he realised that it wasn't the loss of Maddie that tore them apart, it was the fear; the fear that he could not replace the hole that Maddie had left in Sara's heart; the fear that he constantly reminded her of their lost child; the fear that he had been the cause of her mental breakdown.

He had tried so hard to help her. Nothing seemed to pull Sara out of the rut that she had gotten into. When he received the job offer for head of night shift in Las Vegas, he decided to take it. He thought moving to Vegas, might help her; a fresh start, a new city. She hadn't lasted three months, when she left to go back to San Francisco. She had said that she thought that they needed time apart, and that she needed some time to find herself. Her therapist had agreed. They had kept in touch, emails and the occasional phone call. She had become a CSI, her new calling, and she rose through the ranks quickly.

Then came the shooting. Holly Gribbs' death had left him a CSI short, and he only trusted Sara to deal with Warrick. He had talked to Sara's therapist and to Sara herself, together they decided she was ready to come back to Vegas. It was time to move on. Sara hadn't fully healed, and Grissom doubted whether she ever would, but she had her old spark back. The spark that made him fall in love with her for the second time. _'Take things slow, Gil, you both need time to adjust,'_ the therapist had told him. Four years later, and he was still adjusting.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I took so long to update. I just found this chapter very difficult to write. I'm not sure if this is moving at the right pace, but I will keep on going. Uni just started back up again, and I don't know how often I will be able to post, so you will have to bear with me. 


	5. Chapter Five

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"What do you think he wants to talk about?"

Warrick, Nick, Catherine and Brass were seated in one of the layout rooms, waiting for Greg to arrive. The table in front of them was covered with photographs and pieces of evidence from Madeleine's case.

"I don't know, Nicky, but he had an epiphany earlier today," Catherine replied looking over the crime scene report.

"I just can't believe that of all the apartments in Vegas that was the one he chose to live in. I mean what are the odds?" Warrick shook his head in disbelief.

"Just imagine what it will do to Sara, I mean she…"

"Good morning!" Brass was cut off by the chirpy greeting from Greg.

"Hey Greggo, you got something for us?" Nick asked.

"Yep, sure do," Greg replied, continuing to stand in the doorway grinning like an idiot.

"Well are you going to tell us?" Brass asked.

"Oh! Right, well I was listening to the way Emily was describing Father and the way he treated them…" he paused mid-thought, before continuing. "Did you ever see that program on the Discovery Channel, where this cat had given birth to four kittens, but two of them died a few days later?"

The four sitting at the table stared up at him blankly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Catherine asked, frustration creeping into her voice.

"I'm getting to that," he replied rolling his eyes. "Anyway, the mother cat was so consumed with grief, she stole two kittens from a family a few houses down the road, and tried to raise them for her own!"

"You mean…" Nick began to ask, trailing off when Greg rushed out of the room. Nick looked at the others, who all shrugged at him. A few seconds later, he re-entered pushing a white board into the room. He opened the envelope that was tucked up under his arm.

"Ok, meet Timothy John Isaacs," he said, sticking up a photo of a well-dressed, dark-haired man in his late thirties – early forties. "Otherwise known as 'Father'."

Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Brass all sat up a little straighter. Seeing he had their attention, Greg continued.

"Now, I would like you to meet Chelsea Rachel Isaacs, otherwise known as 'Mother'." He stuck up a photo of a beautiful woman with long blonde curls. Greg turned to look at the faces of his colleagues. They all looked intrigued and eager for him to reveal the next piece of the puzzle.

"Most importantly, I would like to introduce you to the real Abigail Elizabeth and Rebekah Mary Isaacs." Greg placed another two photographs up on the white board. One was of a girl who was approximately nine years old, she had blonde hair and blue eyes like her mother. The other was approximately six years old with the same hair as her father and bright blue eyes.

Seeing their stunned reaction, Greg opened the envelope again pulling out two more pictures, placing one next to each girl. When he stood back, he heard Catherine gasp.

"Oh my God!" Warrick breathed.

"Unbelieveable!" Brass agreed.

"They look so similar!" Nick agreed.

"Lastly meet nine-year-old Emily Rachel Guthrie and six-year-old Madeleine Charlotte Grissom," Greg paused. "I think that our guy, Timothy Isaacs is suffering from PTSD."

"Post-traumatic stress disorder?" Catherine questioned, Greg nodded.

"What makes you say that?" Warrick asked.

"Back in mid-1998, St Stephen's Catholic Church in Brisbane, San Francisco was blown up by an unknown group. They couldn't find the perpetrator, nor did anyone own up to it. Anyway, the Isaacs family, among many others, were there for their Sunday morning service. Chelsea, Abigail and Rebekah were killed in the blast, Timothy managed to survive with only minor burns to his torso," Greg paused before continuing. "I don't think he took the girls with malicious intent. I think it was the desperate act of a distraught father.Both sets of girls attended the same school, so when they were in uniform he couldn't tell the difference. To him, he wasn't kidnapping Emily and Maddie, he was simply picking up Rebekah and Abigail from school."

"Why wouldn't he kidnap someone to replace his wife?" Warrick wondered aloud.

"Well think about it, it's a lot easier to control two young girls, and convince them that they are his daughters than it would be to control a woman and try to convince her that she's his wife," Greg stated, as though it was plainly obvious.

"Any idea, where he would be now?" Nick asked.

"Hey, I gave you a suspect and a motive, I think this Lab Tech has done enough for you today!" he teased lightly. Catherine smiled at him.

"You did good Greg," she reassured him. "I'll make sure you get credit for this." Greg gleefully bounded out of the room. 'I'll be a CSI, in no time!' he thought as he headed back to his lab.

The four of them watched him leave, each of them shaking their heads.

"We have a victim, a suspect, a witness and a motive. Now all we have to do is find the guy."

"That's a lot easier said than done, Jim."

* * *

Sara couldn't understand Grissom. He was sitting in his office chair, staring out into space. His face calm and collected. She couldn't understand it. He had gone quiet last time, too. He would barely talk, and when he did it was only about work, or bills. She knew that he thought the move to Vegas would fix things. Instead, he threw himself into his job, working doubles and triples, leaving her at home with nothing to do. Leaving Grissom, had been hard for Sara, but she knew she couldn't stay. The job offer from the San Francisco Crime Lab came at just the right time. It was something she could throw herself into, allowing her to forget the past couple of months. 

She watched as he stared, unseeing, into his tarantula tank. Each minute that passed gave her another reminder of the first few months after the incident. She couldn't do that again, she couldn't go through that again. It had nearly broken her last time, and she didn't want it to happen again.

"Grissom," she called gently. Her voice didn't even seem to register with him.

"Gil," she called again, in a tone that she had always reserved just for him. He blinked, and turned slightly to look at her.

"Can you please say something?" her voice was pleading.

"Like what?" he asked, quietly.

"Anything!" she replied. "Talk to me, tell me what you are thinking. Don't shut me out, not like last time. I couldn't handle it again."

"What do you mean?" he asked defensively.

"Why do you think I left Vegas?"

"You were depressed, and your therapist thought it would be for the best."

"That was a part of it, I couldn't cope with Maddie's disappearance and I couldn't cope with the loss of you."

"What do you mean, 'the loss of me'? I was there."

"Yes, but only physically. I needed you emotionally. I needed to talk to you. I needed you there. I needed you to hold me, but you were always working."

"I thought you needed some space." Sara rolled her eyes.

"Grissom, I never saw you, and when I did it was only for a couple of hours. I needed you to help me get over everything that had happened, but you weren't there for me."

"I tried to help you move on in Frisco, Sara. I did everything I could to help you forget, but you refused to. I thought that by moving to Vegas we could forget everything and move on."

"That's just it! I didn't want to forget." Sara turned away from him, to scan the shelves on the wall of his office. "I was scared of forgetting about her. I wanted to talk to you about her, I was so scared that I would forget everything about her. I remember waking up one morning and I couldn't remember what her first word was. I couldn't remember, and… and it scared me," she paused, turning back to face him. "But you never wanted to talk about her. It was like you wanted to forget that she existed. You wanted things to go back to the way they were before she was born. I'm sorry Grissom, but she's our daughter," Sara stared into his eyes, before Grissom dropped his eyes to his lap. They were silent for a few minutes, as Grissom absorbed what Sara had said.

"I'm sorry, Sara. I'm sorry, I didn't try to understand how you were feeling. It's just… I knew that the more I thought about Maddie, the angrier I would get at the bastard that took her, and I didn't like the person I was starting to become. I just need to think about something other than that," Grissom felt his throattighten. He struggled to overcome the building emotion that had been building for five years."I'm sorry, Sara. I'm sorry I caused you to leave. I'm sorry I pushed you away. I understand if you hate me, right now…"

"Gil…" Sara interrupted. "I could never hate you. I-I think if we had stayed together, things could have gotten much worse. I think the time apart was good for us." Grissom nodded in agreement before his head slumped forward onto his chest. The pain, the fear, the anguish andthe tearsthat had been building up for the last five years, burst through his emotional barrier, leaving his body shaking with violent sobs.

Sara sighed with relief, and walked around to his side of the desk. She delicately sat on his lap and put her arms around him and pulled him to her.

"I'm sorry, Sara. I'm so sorry for screwing everything up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, please forgive me…" he whispered into her neck, over and over again.

"Shhh, it's ok Gil, I forgave you a long time ago.You're the one that needs toforgive yourself," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

The tears subsided eventually, but neither one pulled away, each drawing strength from the other. That was how Catherine found them. Knocking softly, she entered after a few moments. Both of the room's occupants turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we've had some developments, and I thought I should be the one to tell you," she explained her interruption, as she walked in and shut the door behind her.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! You guys are fantastic! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. I will try and get the next one up as soon as I can. 


	6. Chapter Six

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Have you found Beetle yet?"

"Beetle?" Catherine asked, staring at Grissom as though he had two heads.

"Grissom's pet name for Maddie was his Little Lady Beetle. Beetle for short," Sara explained. Catherine nodded in understanding and fought with all her control to stop her eyes from rolling. 'Trust Grissom to use entomology to nick name his kid,' she thought.

"No, sorry, but we found the apartment where they have been staying, and we know the man who took them, and we know why he took them."

"Where? Who? Why?" Sara asked, sitting up straighter causing Grissom to grimace at the sudden shift of weight.

"His name is Timothy Isaacs, his wife and two children were killed in a church bombing a few weeks before the kidnapping. We believe, actually, I can't believe I'm saying this, Greg believes that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He thinks that Isaacs believes that Maddie and Emily are really his two daughters Abigail and Rebekah." Catherine looked from Grissom's confused face to Sara's stunned one.

"You mean, he thinks our little girl is his daughter?" Grissom asked. Catherine nodded.

Sara felt Grissom tense, beneath her. She soothingly began rubbing his back.

"Breathe, Gil, breathe," she whispered into his ear. Catherine found this amusing, she was still having trouble adjusting to the idea of Sara and Grissom together. Yet, she knew that had Sara not been there to calm him, Grissom wouldn't have handled the news as well.

"So, where have they been staying whilst here in Vegas?" Catherine paused, before answering his question. Sara sensed the hesitation.

"Catherine, what is it?" she asked.

"He was staying in, God I'm sorry Sara,he was renting an apartmentinDesert SunriseApartments." Sara froze, as Grissom turned to look at her.

"But that's your apartment building isn't it?" he asked her. Sara nodded, unable to find her voice. His arms automatically tightened around her waist. Catherine looked around, unsure of what to say.

"Which apartment?" Sara managed.

"Three – B," Catherine replied.

"That's the apartment right above mine!" Sara jumped off Grissom's knee, and began to pace, mumbling to herself. "I could have seen him every day… I don't remember seeing two girls… She's been right there for weeks now." Suddenly, she turned to Catherine. "I could have saved her!"

"Sara, there was no way you could have known," Catherine tried to reason.

"I should have known, I should have sensed her, I should have been more observant. I'm a CSI! That's my job!"

"Sara…" Catherine tried again, looking at Grissom helplessly.

"I- I, she was ten feet away, and I never knew!" she yelled. Grissom stood up and moved to Sara's side. He placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from pacing.

"Sara…" he said gently.

"I could have seen him every day, and I never knew!"

"Sara, honey, listen to me, there was no way you could have known," he said, tilting her chin so that she looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

For a fleeting moment, Grissom wondered how the tables had switched so quickly. One minute she was comforting him, the next he was comforting her.

"It's ok, honey, I don't blame you. They will find her. Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Brass and even Greg, they will find her." Sara laid her head down on his shoulder, as more tears began to fall. Grissom ran his hand through her hair. Catherine wiped away the tears that had managed to slip down her cheeks.

"I'll leave you two alone," Catherine said as she began to walk out of the office. When she got to the door, she turned around. "Gil, take her home. You both need to rest, and you won't get any here." Grissom looked at her and nodded.

"We'll find her," Catherine said. "I promise."

* * *

"Good news guys," Warrick, said as he entered the room where Nick and Greg were looking over the evidence from the original kidnapping, five years ago. 

"Whatcha got?" Nick asked looking up from the crime scene photos.

"A guy just rang in, he saw the Amber Alert we put out a couple of hours ago, he said he saw a man and a girl matching the description, getting into a car at a gas station just outside of Bakersfield, California."

"Could be heading to LA," Greg suggested.

"Or San Francisco," Nick thought aloud.

"I just got a hit on his credit card!" Catherine said breathlessly, entering the room. He stopped for some gas about an hour ago at a gas station just outside…"

"Bakersfield, we know. We got a hit off the Amber Alert," Nick interrupted.

"Oh, okay. Did they give you a description of the car?" Catherine asked turning to Warrick.

"A late-nineties, white BMW sedan, California plates. A licence number wasn't given, but hopefully it's registered then the DMV should kick one out." Catherine nodded and looked down at the report in front of her.

"Ok, Warrick stick with the car, Greg monitor his credit card transactions, Nick you ring the Highway Patrol and I'll ring Bakersfield, we're going to need their help." Catherine looked up to see the guys looking at something behind her.

"What?" she asked turning around to see Atwater walking down the hall with a man dressed in a black suit. "Oh, crap," she muttered to herself.

"How about we leave you alone with the Feds?" Greg suggested, as he began to walk out of the room. Catherine grabbed him by the back of the collar.

"Uh-uh, if I have to deal with this, then you guys have to do it with me." Catherine smirked at the glare she received from Greg, and the boys at the table.

"Catherine, just who I was looking for. I would like you to meet Agent Charlton of the FBI," Atwater introduced the newcomer.

"Hi, Catherine Willows," she said holding her hand out.

"Andrew Charlton," he replied shaking her hand.

"This is my team, Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders." Agent Charlton shook hands with each of the men.

"Agent Charlton is here to take over the Grissom case…" Atwater began to explain, but Catherine shook her head and held up her hand to stop him.

"Excuse me, no offence Agent Charlton, but this case is ours. We are in the middle of our investigation, we can't just stop."

"You are too close to this case all of you are," Atwater tried to reason.

"We've never even met the victim," Catherine defended their position.

"But you know the mother and the father, and it could be a problem."

"Sir, you can't take this case from us, we are this close to nailing this guy," Catherine held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart.

"Sir, I am willing to work on the case with Ms Willows, I can't see any reason for us not to work together," Agent Charlton interrupted. Catherine turned to him, her eyebrow raised.

"Well, I don't see why not. This lab needs another high profile case," Atwater agreed, as he turned and walked away.

"High profile?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, it's all over the news, reporters are camped out on the front steps," Greg spoke up from behind her. Catherine turned to look at him for a second.

"Damn it!" she muttered before running out of the room. Agent Charlton turned to look at the men at the table, his eyebrows raised, they just shrugged at him.

* * *

Catherine arrived at the door to Grissom's office. She knocked, and when no one answered, she opened the door to see that it was empty. 

"If you're looking for Grissom, he left with Sara about five minutes ago," Jacqui told her as she was walking past.

"Thanks," Catherine yelled as she ran out of the room to the front entrance.

The stairs were packed with reporters, Catherine looked around for Sara and Grissom. Not seeing them, she waved an officer over.

"Hey, Thomas, have you seen Grissom and Sara walk through here?" she asked.

"Yeah, they came through about five minutes ago, saw the reporters and Grissom asked me and my partner to accompany them out, to his car. It was crazy." Sighing Catherine rubbed her forehead with her hand.

"Did they say anything to the press?" she pressed.

"Not really, just that they trusted that the crime lab would find their daughter real soon."

"Thanks, Thomas," Catherine replied, sighing softly.

"I didn't even realise they were married," Thomas continued conversationally, as he looked through the glass doors at the press milling about outside.

"Their not married," Catherine replied.

"Oh, how long have they been engaged for?"

"Their not engaged," Catherine continued.

"Then,who's rock is on her finger?"

* * *

A/N: Who knew I would have this chapter out so soon? Anyway, hope you enjoy! I haven't started Chapter Seven, but I will try and get it done by Sunday. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Catherine's mind was still buzzing with the new twist to the Sara-Grissom saga, when she re-entered the layout room. Warrick, Greg, Nick and Special Agent Andrew Charlton, stopped talking the moment she entered the room.

"Where did you run off to?" Nick asked.

"I went to worn Grissom and Sara about the press," she said, sitting down on the chair next to Warrick.

"Oh, did they slip out the back?" Greg asked in an excited tone.

"No, they left before I got to them."

"Oh," Nick, Warrick and Greg mumbled at the same time.

"Hey, Cath, are you alright?" Warrick asked, concerned about the detachment in her voice. Catherine nodded, and then turned towards the agent.

"Are they married?" she asked him, her voice deadly serious. Nick, Greg and Warrick threw each other questioning glances.

Andrew took in Catherine's expression, a bizarre mixture of hurt and disbelief; instantly he knew exactly shat she was talking about.

"Ms Willows, I think now would be the best time to concentrate on finding Maddie. I'm sure you have many questions, however, I am not the person to ask, nor is this the right time." Catherine accepted his excuse with a nod, and remembering her place, turned to face the CSI's.

"We have the Bakersfield police checking out the gas station, but I doubt there will be much to find. We are just going to have to wait. In the mean time, let's catch up on everything the FBI knows about this case," she said turning to Andrew.

"Thank you Catherine, this is everything we have about the kidnapping, from San Francisco," Agent Charlton said pointing to a stack of three boxes, alongside two more stacks of three boxes. "Witness reports, evidence logs, the whole lot. Sheriff Atwater tells me that you believe you have the prime suspect."

"Yeah, a Timothy Isaacs. His wife and two daughters were blown up in a…"

"Church bombing," Agent Charlton finished. Catherine nodded.

"How did you know?" Greg asked.

"Isaacs was one of two people that we suspected of being the Playtime Snatcher. Teachers had seen him hanging around the school, in the days leading up to the kidnapping. One eye-witness saw him at the scene. Of course the teachers thought it was suspicious, his daughters were dead, no reason for him to be at the school."

"Was he questioned?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, but his alibi was that he was at home, alone. We couldn't prove otherwise. We got a search warrant for his house, and not a trace of evidence that linked the girls to his house. We searched his car, his computer, and his office, nothing. We talked to his brother, his neighbours and colleagues, all of them said the same thing, he was a model citizen. He was religious, he was kind, and he was devastated by the loss of his wife and two girls. He had no record, no history of violence, no history of mental problems, he seemed completely normal."

"You said two people?" Warrick questioned.

"Yeah, the other guy was our main suspect. Bryan Fellows, a paedophile that live five blocks from the school. His main interest was girls aged between five and ten. A real creep, he denied taking them. We searched his place with much the same results as when we searched Isaacs, nothing. We got him on possession and distribution of child pornography though. Made me feel better, knowing a disgusting pervert like him was locked away in a jail cell."

Catherine's face had paled, making her look ghostly white. When Agent Charlton saw this, he decided to change the subject. "What made you suspect Isaacs?"

"We questioned Emily when she came in and she said that he had given both her and Madeleine false names, Abigail and Rebekah Isaacs. It was Greggo here that thought that maybe the names weren't as false as we first thought." Nick pointed at Greg, indicating that he should continue.

"I ran a search through the computer and the names Abigail and Rebekah Isaacs came up in relation to the church bombings. It got me thinking that he had taken the girls thinking that they weren't Emily Guthrie and Madeleine Grissom at all but his daughters Abigail and Rebekah." Agent Charlton looked impressed.

"Well done, you should come train at Quantico, we could use someone like you." Greg smiled a huge smile. Nick shook his head and swiped Greg on the back of the head.

"Excuse me, sir, but we don't say things like that to Greg. It gives him a big head." The group laughed, easing a bit of the tension that had been floating in the room.

"Please, call me Andrew," Agent Charlton insisted.

"I just wish we knew where he was going; it's frustrating just sitting around waiting!" Catherine thumped her hand on the table.

"I might know someone who could tell us where he might be," Agent Charlton suggested.

"Who?" Nick asked.

"Robert Isaacs, Timothy's brother."

* * *

Grissom watched as Sara's chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Her face was angelic when she slept; no worry lines, no frown. It displayed none of the pain that she had been through. She looked as young and beautiful as she did fourteen years ago. 

_He had arrived early to his lecture that evening, wanting to make sure that everything was set up right, and was surprised to see someone in there so early. He walked to the front of the room and watched the young woman with fascination. Her head was bent over a book, and she was furiously scribbling away. He continued to watch her as he set up. She gave no indication that she had seen him enter the room. _

"_Damn," her voice was filled with frustration. _

"_Are you alright, Miss?" he asked. Her head shot up to look at him. _

"_Ah, yeah, I didn't know anyone else was in here," she nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. _

"_I noticed that you were in deep concentration. What are you working on? A cure for cancer?" he teased lightly. She smiled._

"_Close, my quantum physics assignment." Grissom raised his eyebrows._

"_A Physics major, very interesting. Are you here for the Forensics Lecture?"_

"_Yeah, I'm just trying to keep my options open for the moment. I'm not sure what I want to do yet."_

"_Sounds very sensible."_

"_Is there a lot of physics in forensics?" she asked curiously. _

"_Of course," he replied and fell into an easy conversation with the young woman as they talked about science and forensics and even her quantum physics paper. Their conversation was only interrupted by the sounds of students entering the room. _

"_That's my cue. It was good talking to you…" he trailed off when he realised that he didn't even know her name. _

"_Sara, Sara Sidle," she held out her hand and he shook it. _

"_Sara, that's a beautiful name. Gil Grissom," he introduced himself before turning and heading back to the front of the room. _

It was hard to believe everything that had happened since that fateful day. Grissom was struggling to keep his eyes open, the past few hours had drained both of them.

Grissom got up off the chair and crawled into the bed next to her. Pulling her closely to him, he smiled when she subconsciously wriggled around to find the perfect spot. When she did she sighed softly in her sleep. His last conscious thought, before he fell into a deep sleep, was just how perfectly she fitted in his arms.

* * *

"Robert! Open up!" Andrew shouted banging his fist on the door for the fourth time, looking round to see Brass with his gun drawn, and Catherine standing not too far in the distance. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," they heard the muffled reply through the door. Andrew's grip on the gun strapped to his side, loosened, though only slightly. He heard a series of clicks before the door opened.

Robert Isaacs was about six foot tall, his dark hair sprinkled with grey. His eyes were droopy and tired; he looked to be ten years older than his thirty-five years.

"Who in God's name is banging on my door at four o'clock in the morning?" Looking up at the people on his doorstep, his face changed from one of annoyance, to one of recognition.

"Agent Charlton, how've you been?" his tone icy.

"Better and yourself?" Andrew's replied bitterly.

"I've seen better days. You know my wife left me after you came round, asking all those questions about Timmy."

"Really, I'm sorry to hear that," Andrew replied, not sounding very sorry at all.

"Well, I assume this isn't a social call," he trailed off.

"Do you know where your brother is?" Catherine asked, stepping forwards towards the door.

"I haven't seen or heard from him in years," Robert said leaning against the doorframe.

"Not even since he's been in Vegas?" Andrew questioned.

"He's here?" Robert asked standing up straighter.

"Yeah, hiding the two girls you told me that he would never have taken," Andrew answered.

"Timothy wouldn't have taken them. He is the good brother, the one with the successful computer company. I'm the one stuck working tables at the Tangiers, since my restaurant went under. No thanks to you guys coming round accusing my brother of kidnapping."

"Robert, he did kidnap the girls. We have one of them, she ran away. He still has the other, and we don't know what he's going to do to her. So, I need you to tell me what you know."

"I don't know anything except that he wouldn't hurt the girl," Robert said defensively.

"We found blood in her bedroom, at the apartment he was using," Brass spoke up from his spot just in front of Catherine. Robert looked at him wide eyed.

"He said he hadn't hurt them," he muttered.

"When?" Andrew asked.

"What?"

"When did he say that he hadn't hurt them?" Robert sighed.

"He called me a week ago. I asked him if the girls were okay. He said that they were fine. I asked him, if he had hurt them. He said that he hadn't."

"How long have you known that he's had them?" Catherine interrupted. Robert looked at her before dropping his eyes to the ground.

"He called me, about six months after he took the girls. He started telling me about all the things that he had been doing with Abigail and Rebekah. I told him that they were dead. He didn't believe me. I flew out to see him a week later. I recognised the girls, as the ones that went missing."

"So, you've known for four and a half years?" Catherine yelled.

"He's my brother, I couldn't just turn him in." Catherine shook her head in disbelief. "Besides, he was taking really good care of them, treating them as if they really were Abby and Becky."

"Where is he now?" Andrew asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know."

Andrew suddenly raced forward pinning Robert to the door his fore arm against Robert's throat.

"You son of a -, stop lying to me, you've been lying to me for five years. Tell me where he is taking her." Robert gulped; sweat breaking out across his forehead.

"I'm telling you I really don't know, honest to God," he said his eyes wide with fear. "But, the last time I talked to him he did talk a lot about going home. I always assumed he meant San Francisco." Andrew stayed were he was for a few more moments, before moving away.

"Cuff him," he muttered to Brass.

"What? Why!" Robert spluttered, holding his neck.

"Impeding a federal investigation," Andrew turned back to face Robert. "And if anything happens to her, you can bet your ass that I will nail you for co-conspiracy."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about taking a while to update. Thank you for all the reviews! Part of the next chapter is written, but I am going away for the Easter weekend, so I will hopefully have it done by the time I get back. Happy Easter! 


	8. Chapter Eight

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Dr Peggy Winters, had just come on the early morning shift in the ER at Riverview County Hospital, and as usual it was very quiet.

"Hey, girl, how've you been?" Susan Jefferies, one of the night shift nurses asked her.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Robbie has his recital coming up and he is so nervous, and Molly's come down with a cold. She hasn't been sleeping well, and poor Ray has had to stay up with her," Peggy replied, placing her bag under the counter and grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Oh, the poor little thing, I'll make some soup for her to have."

"Susie, you don't have to do that." Peggy pulled on her white coat and places the stethoscope around her neck.

"Uh-uh I insist," Susan replied, handing her a clipboard.

"Thank-you, how are Max and Martin?"

"Max's carpentry business is doing well. They're hoping to get the contract for the new shopping mall in town. Martin's driving me crazy in his retirement; he just can't seem to sit still. He started whittling wooden animals, and if he doesn't stop soon, I'm going to be living in a zoo!" Peggy laughed.

"At least he didn't take to renovation, like my father did. It drove mum to distraction. One night they had to set up the tent in the living room, because Dad had decided to re-roof the house." They both laughed.

"Men!" Susan muttered a smile on her face.

"So, what have we got tonight?" Peggy asked.

"Little Tom Baker, fell off his bed last night. Broken arm and slight concussion, Dr Roberts just wanted to keep him in tonight," Susan began handing Peggy a clipboard.

"That's the third time this month!" Peggy replied while Susan shook her head chuckling.

"I think Jack and Tina need to invest in bars to put around his bed." Peggy nodded in agreement.

"Wesley Harris, and Jessica Redgraves, had a bit too much to drink at the Henderson's party last night, came in an hour ago, both with alcohol poisoning." Susan passed two more clipboards to Peggy.

"Anton Fletcher…" Susan began but was cut off by the sound of the front door, bursting open.

In walked a man carrying what looked to be an unconscious child.

"Help!" he yelled. "Help me!" Peggy dumped the clipboards, and raced to the man's side.

"Susie, can you get trauma one ready please. Excuse me, sir? I'm Dr Winters; can you tell me what happened?" She asked him pressing her stethoscope to the girl's chest.

"She just fell asleep and I couldn't wake her!" he replied. Dr Winters took in the girls, small build and thin frame. The girls face was white, and her breathing shallow. Her eyes traveled to the roughly bandaged hand of the man carrying her.

"Sir, I need to take a look at her," she said leading him towards the trauma room.

The man placed the girl down on the bed.

"Honey? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me," Dr Watson instructed to the girl.

"She's deaf, she can't hear you!" he yelled, tears pouring down his face.

"Sir, I need you to calm down. Tell me what happened."

"We were driving, and I stopped for a bathroom break, I tried to wake her and she wouldn't wake up. Please, you've got to help my daughter. Please!" he repeated over and over again.

"I'm going to do my best, sir. Can you tell me her name?" Dr Winter's asked calmly.

"Abby, Abigail Isaacs." Dr Winters looked over at Susan, wondering if she too caught the name. Susan looked over to Peggy, and waited for her reaction.

"Susan, can you call Michael Watson for me." Susan nodded and left the room.

"Who's he?" the man asked, looking quickly between the nurse and the doctor.

"I need him to help me, help your daughter," Dr Winter's replied evenly.

Susan rushed out of the room. Abigail Isaacs. The name had been all over the news that night. She hurried over to the phone, and snatched it up. Punching in the number she waited for the other person to pick up.

"Sheriff Watson? It's Susie Jefferies, from the hospital… yes; I need you to get down here right away… a man just walked in with his daughter, one Abigail Isaacs."

* * *

"Are you sure? Yes, of course we'll be there as soon as we can," Andrew closed his cell phone with a snap. "They've found her," he said to Catherine and Brass, before turning and heading for his car. 

"Brass, you take the brother, I'm going with Andrew," Catherine told him and ran after Andrew before Brass could respond.

A couple of hours later, Timothy Isaacs was sitting in the interrogation room of the Riverview County Police Station. Catherine and Andrew stood behind the one way mirror watching him as he fidgeted in his seat. His right leg kept bouncing up and down, and he seemed to be unconsciously rubbing the ring finger on his left hand, just above his wedding ring.

The sound of the door opening brought Catherine and Andrew out of their solitary musings. Sheriff Watson of Riverview County Police Station was tall with a lean build. His face was kind and friendly, framed by short, slightly graying light brown hair.

"Are you ready?" he asked them. They nodded and silently exited the room.

Timothy Isaacs looked up as the three entered the room.

"What am I doing here?" he demanded. "I need to be with my daughter, she is sick and she needs me. She'll panic when she sees that I am not there!" he yelled.

"She has been given some medicine to help her get better. She's not expected to wake for another couple of hours," Sheriff Watson answered, trying to calm the man in the chair.

Timothy looked at the face of each of his interrogators, upon seeing Andrew's stern face he twitched, visibly.

"A-agent Charlton, you're just the man I need to talk to. My eldest daughter, Rebekah, she had gone missing," he said sitting up straighter.

"She's dead," he replied emotionlessly. Timothy looked up into his eyes, as if trying to determine the truth of that statement.

"No, no, she can't be. She just ran away. She'll come back when she realizes she was in the wrong."

"Mr Isaacs, Rebekah is dead, along with Abigail and your wife. They died in an explosion five and a half years ago," Andrew repeated, running a hand through his wavy dark brown hair.

"No, you must be mistaken Mr Charlton, Abby is in the hospital, and Becky ran away last night." Timothy looked at Andrew as if he had gone crazy.

"I'm not mistaken Mr Isaacs. The girl in the hospital is Madeleine Grissom. She had been missing for the last five years. The girl who ran away is Emily Guthrie. She has also been missing for five years. Both were taken from St Michael's Elementary School, the same school that your daughters attended. Emily ran away and called the police, telling them that you had kidnapped her and Madeleine."

Timothy stared open mouthed at Andrew.

"I remember you talking to me about the missing girls, but I can assure you Agent Charlton my girls are not those girls. Rebekah is being a typical teenage girl, and I can assure you that she will be punished for lying. Ask Abby, she will tell you that I am their father," Timothy insisted pounding his hand on the table.

"Mr Isaacs, we can run a DNA test to prove that they are not your daughters, but we don't need to. We have proof that your daughters died in the explosion," Catherine explained, as she opened a folder and took out a series of newspaper clippings and death certificates.

"**_3/4 Family Killed in Church Tragedy"_**

"**_Local Man Loses Family in Explosion"_**

"**_Church Bombing Kills 3"_**

"**_Playtime Snatcher Strikes"_**

"**_School Playgrounds, No Longer Safe"_**

"**_Give Back Our Girls!" _**

Timothy stared at the documents in front of him, silent tears slipping down his cheeks. Catherine watched as he read through all of the documents and articles that were placed in front of him. The room was silent and he absorbed everything in front of him. Finally, he picked up a clipping showing pictures of Madeleine and Emily. As he stared at the piece of paper in front of him, his body began to shake and his sobs grew louder.

"I don't believe you!" he yelled through his sobs. "You're all lying. Let me see my daughter! I need to see Abby!" Andrew leaned across the table.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Mr Isaacs." He turned and walked out of the room closely followed by Catherine and Sheriff Watson.

"We're going to need a psych consult," Catherine told Sheriff Watson, he nodded and left to call the town's resident psychologist. Catherine turned to look at Andrew. His shoulders were slumped; his dark brown eyes looked tired.

"Are you alright?" she asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's just a tough case. This was my first high profile case. I let it get to me way more than it should have."

"We all have cases like those. We just have to work through it one at a time." Andrew looked at her and smiled appreciatively.

"Listen, I know you feel like I've stepped on your toes and all…"

"No, it's fine really. I'm just glad we've found Grissom and Sara's girl." Andrew nodded smiling softly.

"Have you told them yet?" he asked. Catherine's eyes widened in guilt, grabbing her cell phone out of her pocket, she dialed a familiar number.

* * *

_Sirens, all she could hear were sirens. Light's flashed all around her and people rushed past her. It was chaos, well organized chaos. She felt her knees give way, and a strong set of arms caught her, preventing the fall. She could smell him all around her. She buried herself into him, hoping to drown out the sirens' wails. Yet it didn't seem to provide any relief. Then through the silence she heard the scream. "Mommy!"_

Sara bolted upright.

"Maddie!" she called out, the only reply that came was the grunting of the man next to her and the phone ringing on his bedside table.

"Gil!" she called, prodding him. When he didn't move, she crawled over the top of him to reach the phone.

"Gil Grissom's phone," she answered.

"Sara?" Catherine's voice answered.

"Yeah, Cath what's up?" She asked, gently running her hand through Grissom's hair.

"We made a lot of progress last night," she began.

"And…" Sara prodded.

"We found her."

Grissom woke to the sound of Sara crying.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. The next chapter is just about finished, so it shouldn't be too long before it is posted. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

White and grey; everything was white and grey. The sheets, the walls, the ceiling, the furnishings, everything. She could faintly smell disinfectant and lemons. She looked around the room she was in. It was definitely not her room; this room gave her a sense of hope. Maybe she could get away from him after all. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to see the door open, she studied her visitor.

She had slightly curly strawberry-blonde hair, cut in the latest fashion. She was dressed in a navy-blue pants suit, and she looked friendly. That was a good sign. The woman approached the bed, and took a seat on the chair provided. She waved, before holding up a pad of paper.

'_Hi Maddie, my name is Catherine,'_ it said. The girl in the bed raised her eyebrows, and pulled down the oxygen mask attached to her face.

"You know my name?" she asked in a soft voice, Catherine struggled to hear. Catherine nodded, and then scribbled something down on the pad of paper.

'_I know your parents.'_ Maddie looked up at Catherine, tears forming in her eyes.

"Really?" Catherine nodded again, a smile creeping across her face.

'_Everyone has been so worried about you.'_ Maddie smiled a little.

"Do you know where Emily is?" she asked, before covering her mouth to cough. Catherine wrote another answer and then showed it to Maddie.

'_She's with her parents, she helped us find you,'_ Relief flowed through Maddie's body.

"What about 'Father'?"

'_He's being questioned,'_ Maddie smiled as the tears ran down her face.

"It's really over?" she asked hopefully. Catherine smiled.

'_It's really over,'_ she replied via the paper. Catherine scribbled out another note.

'_Why don't you get some rest? Your Mom and Dad will be here soon.'_ Maddie nodded and for the first time in five years she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Catherine, pulled the blankets up to her shoulders, and gently placed the oxygen mask back down on her face. Tenderly she pushed one of Maddie's curls back behind her ear, and watched as Maddie slept. She had hair as dark and as curly as her mother's, but her bright blue eyes were all her father's. She had dimples on her cheeks, just like Grissom's, yet she was growing up to look just like Sara. Catherine smiled before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

Grissom and Sara arrived at Riverview County Hospital, as soon as they possibly could. Jumping out of the squad car that had driven them there from the local airstrip, they raced into the waiting room to see Agent Charlton and Catherine standing, talking to two other women. 

"Andrew!" Sara cried, causing them to turn around, and ran over to Andrew, throwing herself at him. Andrew relaxed after the initial shock and put his arms around her, holding her tightly to him.

"Sara," he whispered softly into her hair.

Catherine's eyebrows rose.Looking up, Andrew held out his hand as Grissom approached. "Gil," he greeted, shaking his hand as best he could with Sara still attached.

"Andrew, it's good to see you again," Grissom replied politely.

Sara pulled away from Andrew, her face tear stained.

"Thank you," she whispered. He wiped another tear from her cheek.

"Your welcome, baby-girl, but I had a lot of help," he replied indicating to Catherine next to him. Sara turned to face her before pulling her into a hug. Catherine, in a mild state of shock didn't move.

"Thank you, Catherine. For everything." Catherine smiled and hugged Sara back.

"Your welcome."

"Can we see Maddie now?" she asked stepping away from Catherine, and back towards Grissom.

"First we need you to talk to Drs Winters and Evans," Andrew answered.

Sara and Grissom turned and greeted the two other women for the first time.

"Hi, I'm Dr Winters I treated your daughter, when she was brought into the hospital," Peggy introduced herself.

"Is she going to be ok?" Grissom asked.

"Physically she will be fine. She has had a very bad case of influenza, but we have her on strong antibiotics that appear to be working she was also malnourished and dehydrated. I would like to keep her here for a few days, for observation."

"Any physical scarring?" Sara asked. Dr Winters shook her head.

"She has a couple of recent bruises, and a cut along her hand that required stitches, but there are no signs of long-term physical abuse."

"How about psychological?" Grissom asked.

"That you be my department," the other woman spoke up.

"I'm Dr Evans, I'm a psychologist. I had a brief talk with your daughter when she first woke up. She appears a little shaken, but for the moment she seems fine."

"For the moment?" Sara asked.

"Mrs Grissom, your daughter has been though what I believe to be five years of emotional abuse. At the moment, she appears fine, but the brain works in strange ways. Initially she may be fine, but she will probably experience nightmares, see things that trigger bad memories. She may never fully recover from this experience." Sara choked on a sob, and Grissom's arm wound around her pulling her to him.

"I believe that she will need to see a psychologist on a regular basis when you take her back to Vegas, preferably one with experience in trauma. You will have to comfort her, without smothering her. You need to rely on her to tell you what does and doesn't make her comfortable. You also need to remember that she is no longer six years old. She's eleven. She won't remember a lot about you, you are going to need to have patience. The main thing is don't push her to talk about what happened. When she is ready, she will tell you." Sara and Grissom nodded.

"Anything else Doctors?" Grissom asked them both. They shook their heads in reply.

"Can we see her now?" Sara asked.

"Just this way," Dr Winters replied, indicating for Grissom and Sara to follow her.

When they had left, Catherine turned to look at Andrew.

"You seem to know Sara very well," she said, accusingly. Andrew turned to look at her a frown forming across his face.

"I worked her daughter's disappearance. I talked to her at least once a month on the phone and twice a year she would come to my office and see me in person," he explained, sitting down on one of the hospital chairs.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did she come to your office?"

"We would go through all the evidence again, together. It was Sara's way of coping. I wasn't going to stop her from searching for her daughter."

"She seems to really trust you, and like you," Catherine pushed.

"It's not like that," he replied quietly.

"It's not like it hasn't happened. The mother of a little kid goes missing; she falls for the guy trying to find her child. She sees him as the hero."

"It's really not like that," he replied stiffly.

"Then what is it like?" she continued pushing. "How come she seems so open with you when she isn't with everyone else?" Andrew sat in the chair glaring at Catherine for a few moments, before looking away and taking a deep breath.

"I've got to get back to the station and talk to Isaacs," he said getting up and leaving, before Catherine could say another word.

* * *

She was sleeping when they entered the room. Sara reached for Grissom's hand, in order to stop herself from throwing herself at the girl in the bed. Little did she know that he was having the same compulsion. As though she sensed the movement in her room, the girl woke up. She blinked a few times trying to focus her eyes, when they did her heart skipped a beat as her eyes become clouded with tears. It became too much for Sara, who ran to the bed and took Maddie in her arms, Grissom was not far behind her. 

They sat there in a three way hug for what seemed like forever. When they broke apart it was obvious that all three had been crying. Sara placed a kiss on Maddie's forehead.

'You look so beautiful,' Grissom signed to her.

'Thank you' Maddie signed back, blushing.

'I missed you so much,' Sara joined in.

'I missed you both too.'

'I love you,' Sara and Grissom signed simultaneously. Maddie giggled.

'I love you both too,' she replied.

Grissom sat back as he watched Sara and Maddie converse with each other, hands flying frantically. This was his second chance, and seeing his two girls there together gave him the motivation to get everything right. He knew it was going to take a long time, but he felt confident that they would pull through this together.

Later when Maddie had fallen asleep, Grissom sat on the edge of the bed, Sara sat just in front of him, leaning back so that she rested on him. Grissom was lightly stroking her arm.

"She looks so grown up," Sara whispered in awe.

"Yeah she does," Grissom agreed.

"She looks so beautiful."

"She looks like her mother." Sara smiled, softly.

"It's going to be a tough few years."

"I think even though it will take time, eventually everything will be alright again," he commented quietly.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, moving her head so that it sat in the hollow between his shoulder and his neck.

"T.S. Eliot," he replied.

"And what did T.S. Eliot say to make you think that?" she asked, curiously.

"'What we call the beginning is often the end, and to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from,'" He paused. "This is the end of our old lives, now it is time for us to start our new lives."

"Together?" she asked, softly.

"If that's what you want."

"I don't know, Grissom," she replied hesitantly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I don't know it just feels like you want everything to go back to the way it was. But I can't just play 'Happy Families'," she replied.

"I know things can't go back to the way they were before." Sara pulled away from Grissom and turned on the bed to face him.

"Do you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Do you really, because Grissom you've been ignoring me for the last three years, now all of a sudden, Maddie returns and you tell me that you want us to be together," she paused and looked into his eyes. "Do you see where I'm coming from?" she asked.

"I wasn't ignoring you," he replied quietly.

"Grissom we didn't work together for months, you haven't talked to me for months. If it hadn't of been for my DUI, we wouldn't even be talking now," the angrier she got, the louder she became. "You didn't even tell me about your surgery a year ago. I had to work it out for myself." Grissom took a hold of Sara's arm and led her out of the room.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she questioned, as the door came to a close behind her.

"I didn't want our daughter to wake to see us fighting," Grissom replied. Sara took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Are you really? For the last four years you've been treating me like a yo-yo. I don't know where I stand with you. I know we took a break from each other and everything, but when you called me back to Vegas, I thought you wanted to start again. I thought you wanted to give us another try, and for the first year or so I thought we were. Then it was like you didn't want to know me. That hurt, a lot."

"Sara, I though we were giving it another try and the next thing I know, you're dating Hank," Grissom spit his name out with disgust.

"Hank and I never dated. We went to the movies, had dinner, we were friends. You were the one who told me to get a life outside of the lab, so I thought the best way to do that would be to make friends outside of the lab."

"Come on Sara, you're this beautiful woman and he was this younger, better looking guy are you really trying to tell me that you didn't sleep with him?" he accused.

"No Grissom, I didn't sleep with him. We kissed a couple of times, but I stopped it before it went too far. It wasn't what I wanted from that relationship. It turns out it was for the best anyway, he already had another girlfriend. Besides, I wasn't the one who slept with the dominatrix," she retorted.

"That was a regrettable mistake. I was upset about you and Hank. Afterwards, I wished I had taken up Jim's idea and gotten the sports car."

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, as both tried to calm down so as not to start a full scale feud in the hospital corridor.

"Why didn't you tell me about your hearing?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly.

"Of all the things to keep from me, that shouldn't have been one of them."

"Sara you weren't a part of my life at the time, so I just didn't think it was necessary," he tried to explain.

"Grissom!" she yelled causing the nurse passing by to 'shhh' her. "You were the father of my baby girl and you were my husband, don't you think that I deserved to know what was going on with you?"

Catherine, who had heard the yelling from the waiting room and had come to see what was going on, froze when she heard the word 'husband'. So they were married, she thought. Stopping around the corner, she listened to what they were saying.

"I'm sorry Sara, you're right I should have told you, but I didn't. I didn't want to burden you with the knowledge that I was going deaf."

"The funny thing is, Grissom, what upsets me isn't the fact that you think that your health and well being isn'tmy main concern.What upsets me is that you seemed to think that I wouldn't figure it out for myself," she paused, before continuing in a voice much softer than before. "I'm an investigator, trained by one of the best investigators in America. You taught me how to read people, and I've been reading you for the last twelve years. I know you, Gil. I can read you better than anyone else in the world. You can't hide things from me." Grissom glanced into her eyes, then looked at the ground, trying to think of what to say.

"I'm sorry Sara," he whispered. "I'm sorry I screwed everything up. I'm sorry I pushed you away. I don't understand why I was pushing you away, I've tried coming up with an answer, but my mind goes blank. Maybe I was convinced that I would lose you too, so I prepared myself for the inevitable. Or maybe I thought that I had driven you away, when you went back to San Francisco, so I pushed you away to save you from me. Or maybe I thought that you had left me and when you came back I built up walls protecting myself from you. I just don't know, Sara."

He slumped back against the wall, his face in his hands.

Sara reached over and lowered his hands. She tilted his head so that he would meet her eyes.

"Gil, you never did and you never will lose me. I'm yours forever," she replied. Grissom smiled a small smile, which Sara returned. Taking her hands into his he squeezed them lightly.

"I know that things won't ever be the same again. But I don't want them to be the same; I want to make everything better than what it was. I want us to be a family, and I know that having Maddie back with us isn't going to make everything right again. But I swear to you that I am going to work hard at this. I love you Sara, I've loved you for so long, and I love our daughter and I've missed you so much."

Sara remained quiet, her head hanging down.

"Sara?" he questioned, hesitantly.

"Just when I thought that I couldn't cry anymore," she said lifting her head up and wiping away the fresh tears that were falling down her face. "I feel like such a girl!" Grissom smiled, and looked at her waiting for her answer.

"If we're going to do this we need to have a long talk and we need to take things slowly. I don't think I could handle things going too fast. But most importantly, Maddie doesn't need to deal with our relationship problems as well as her own nightmares. Don't you think?" Grissom smiled, relief washing over him.

"Absolutely, I couldn't agree more," Grissom answered. Smiling, Sara stepped into his arms for a hug. Grissom bent forward and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you Sara," he whispered, pulling her closer to him.

"I love you too, Gil, and I've missed you like crazy!" Grissom chuckled as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

Catherine couldn't remain hidden any longer. She was very proud of herself for waiting until now to reveal her hiding spot. But the relative silence was getting to her.

"You were married?" she cried, causing the nursing staff to frown at her and Sara and Grissom to break apart. They turned to see her standing at the corner.

"What do you mean were?" Grissom asked, tilting his head to the side. He and Sara seemed to be wearing matching amused grins.

"What?" she yelled in disbelief, causing Sara to burst into a fit of giggles.

* * *

A/N: For the purposes of this story both Sara and Maddie can sign. My reasoning is that Grissom would have taught both of them sign language so that they could communicate with his mother. And just in case you think that now they have found Maddie (and each other), they live happily ever after; we're not at the end just yet. That's just a little too unrealistic don't you think? 

This chapter goes out to all the GS Shippers! I got this chapter out so fast, because you were all so good. Well, that and I just seemed to be on a roll. The next chapter will take a little longer. Sorry!

Also, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I appreciate all the feedback you give me, and I do take it into account when I am writing, so thank you very much.


	10. Chapter Ten

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: T (PG-13)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

Grissom found himself sitting in the small hospital cafeteria, sitting across from Catherine, who was talking non-stop on the phone. He tried to remember how he ended up sitting here instead of next to his sleeping daughter and wife. He remembered swaying on his feet and Catherine mumbling something about eating, then being forcefully led out of the room and down to the cafeteria. Sighing, he eyed his egg sandwich, with its limp lettuce and grey colored filling. Taking a small bite, he couldn't help but think that it was no where near as good as Sara's egg salad sandwiches. He would always try to get her to reveal her secret ingredient, but she would never yield.

The sound of Catherine's phone snapping shut, brought him back to the present.

"You need to eat Gil, you look like death," she said in a motherly tone. Grimacing, he forced himself to take another bite of the flavourless sandwich. "The boys are glad to hear that Maddie is alright. Greg said he would contact Emily and let her know." Grissom nodded in silent appreciation.

"Did you tell them about Sara and I?" he asked swallowing a mouthful of orange juice. Catherine smiled faintly.

"No, I thought it was something you and Sara should tell them together." Grissom smiled gratefully at her.

Catherine took a bite of her chicken salad sandwich, contemplating how to approach her next subject.

"So, Andrew told me he has been on Maddie's case since the beginning," she began glancing up to catch Grissom's reaction.

"Yeah, he never gave up. He put up sith Sara's nagging and her theories. He had failed to give up hope when I just about had. He was there for Sara when I wasn't," he paused. "We wouldn't have made it through this if it wasn't for him."

"He and Sara seem very close," Catherine said, silently cursing at the hint of sharpness in her voice. Grissom looked at Catherine confusion on his face.

"Of course they are, it's not completely unheard of," he replied sarcastically. Catherine choked the bit of sandwich she was chewing.

"You know about it?" Catherine cried. Grissom cocked his head, looking confusedly at her. "You know that she visits him twice a year in San Francisco, you know that she calls him all the time!"

Grissom stared at Catherine as though she had lost her mind.

"Of course I knew, just because Sara and I had separated, does not mean that I didn't know what she was doing."

"How can you just sit back and let her do it? I know you love her, it's obvious to anyone who has spent two seconds in a room alone with you two, and I know that she loves you too, but... God, Grissom how can you just sit by and let her do that to you?" Grissom stared open mouthed at Catherine.

"I'm sorry, Catherine but you are making absolutely no sense. What the hell are you talking about?" Catherine stared wide-eyed at Grissom.

"You don't know?" she whispered. Grissom shook his head in confusion, fear building in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm only telling you this because you are my best friend and I don't want to see you get hurt. So, here goes," she paused and took a deep breath. "I think Sara and Andrew are having an affair."

Grissom stared past Catherine, not moving a muscle. Catherine watched him nervously trying to gage his reaction. His face remained frozen, then the unexpected happened. A smile began to form on his face, the first genuine smile she had seen from him in months. The smile turned into a grin. Catherine stared at him. 'He's gone crazy,' she thought.

"Gil?" she questioned touching his arm lightly as Grissom chuckled.

"You think that Andrew and Sara an affair?" he asked. When he saw the look on Catherine's face, he realised that she was being deadly serious. Dropping the smile, he shook his head at her.

"Catherine, Andrew's Sara brother." Grissom watched as Catherine's jaw dropped.

"Sara has a brother?" she asked. "But they have different last names," she pointed out. Grissom took a sip of his orange juice before answering.

"He's her foster brother," he replied quietly.

"Her foster… Sara was in a foster home?" she asked, her voice level rising. Grissom nodded.

"But why? When?"

"I don't think it's really my place to say," Grissom replied.

"Oh, right of course," she paused then slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh God, I'm an idiot." Grissom smirked.

"No, you just jumped to conclusions before you had all the facts. It was very un-CSI like of you."

"I know, I know."

"It's ok, just as long as you don't mention it to Sara or Andrew. They are a bit sensitive of accusations like that, especially Andrew. His ex-wife, who Sara and I never really like in the first place, didn't like the close bond that Sara and Andrew shared. She accused him of cheating on her with Sara a couple of weeks after Maddie was taken. She took away their two children, their house, everything. Now, he only gets to see his kids one weekend a month." Grissom looked up from his sandwich to see Catherine's pale face staring back at him.

"Hey Cath, are you…" He stopped when Catherine stood up suddenly.

"Sorry, Grissom, I have to go, I've go to get back to the station," she said, before hurrying out of the cafeteria, leaving a confused Grissom alone with a half eaten egg salad sandwich.

* * *

"He seems to be very confused," Dr Evans, the psychologist, said to Sheriff Watson and Andrew after completing an hour long session, with Timothy Isaacs. 

"How do you mean?" the sheriff asked, as Andrew stared through the two way mirror at Isaacs.

"He remembers that his wife died in a fire. He couldn't tell me where or how, but he could tell me when."

"What about the girls?" the sheriff pressed.

"He still claims that Emily and Maddie are Abby and Becky."

"What did he say about the day the girls were abducted?"

"He says he picked the girls up at lunchtime, and pulled them out of school. He said that they weren't being supervised properly and that he wasn't paying good money for his children to attend that school and not be supervised. He claimed that anyone off the streets could have come in and taken them." Andrew snorted. Sheriff Watson looked at him. It was the first sign of life he had shown in the last hour and a half.

The Playtime Snatcher case had been a large burden on Andrew for the last five years. Not only was it his first case as team leader, but his niece was one of the two girls that went missing. The fact that it had remained unsolved had been a thorn in his side for the last five years. Every time he saw Sara or Grissom, or spoke to them on the phone, he felt guilty.

He knew that while the case had been active, he had spent a lot of time with Sara. She was the one going through a traumatic experience after all. What brother would comfort and counsel his sister through such a difficult time? He never suspected his wife would accuse him of cheating, much less with Sara. The divorce had torn him apart. The pain of losing his children, was unbearable. He was only comforted by the fact that at least he got to see his kids once a month. Gil and Sara didn't have that option. Catherine's accusations had hurt him, more than he would care to admit. They may not have been blood brother and sister, but for the way they saw their relationship, they may as well have been.

With a shake of his head, Andrew brought himself back to the present.

"Honestly, he knows that it's wrong to take a child, but his problem is that he thinks that they were his children, and it isn't illegal to take your own children."

"So was he of sound mind at the time or not?" the Sheriff asked.

"No, I believe that he was not of sound mind. However, I'm not a criminal psychologist. Agent Charlton, I think it would be best if you get a specialist to sit down with him." Andrew nodded.

"Thank you Dr Evans, for everything," he said holding out a hand for her to shake.

"You're most welcome," she replied shaking his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I'm going back to bed." She smiled, then turned and squeezed the sheriff's shoulder gently, before winking at him and leaving. When the door shut behind her, Andrew turned to look at the sheriff.

"She's my wife," he said sheepishly. Andrew gave him a small smile and turned back to look at Timothy Isaacs, from behind the two-way mirror.

"Whose jurisdiction is it going to be? Your's or Vegas'," the sheriff asked, just as the door opened, to reveal a very out of breath Catherine.

"Catherine," Sheriff Watson greeted her. Catherine gave him a small smile.

"Hey Michael, could you give us a couple of minutes?" she asked him. Nodding, the sheriff left the room, leaving behind a nervous CSI and a reluctant FBI Agent.

"Listen, Andrew, I jumped to all the wrong conclusions without first gaining the facts and as a CSI, I should know better, and I'm sorry." Andrew continued to stare at Isaacs through the window, purposefully ignoring her. "You need to understand, Gil is my best friend, if it wasn't for him I don't know where I would be right now. Probably a drug addicted, broke, alcoholic former stripper, who is too old to get a job. I owe my life and my daughter's life to him. My only concern was to protect Gil from getting his heart broken." Still Andrew refused to acknowledge her presence.

"You see all of us back home, have known that Grissom loves Sara, it was obvious from the moment you first saw them together. We have spent the better part of four years trying to get them to admit their feelings to each other. None of us realised that they already had, never mind to the point of vowing to spend the rest of their lives together. When I found out that they had a child together and realised that they had had a relationship in the past, I wrongly assumed that somehow Sara had broken his heart, and that's why he always refused to give in to her advances. When I saw the two of you together, I assumed that Sara and Grissom had broken up over you. When I brought my concerns up with Grissom, he told me the truth, that you were her brother, and I felt so guilty for jumping to all the wrong conclusions. So, I sincerely apologise."

Catherine waited for a reaction out of Andrew, but when she didn't get one, she sighed and with slumped shoulders turned to leave.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Gil?" Andrew asked her quietly.

"Excuse me?" she asked incredulously, turning around to face him.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Gil?" Andrew asked again, still facing the window. The impulse to snap back that it wasn't any of his business was strong, instead she bit her lip, thinking.

"You feel protective of him right, you hate it when he is upset. You know that you can always count on him being there for you. You feel that you can be completely yourself around him and not have to worry about what he thinks. You feel like you can tell him anything, and you know that he won't judge you for it. You know that he would give up his life to save yours and visa versa," Catherine nodded. "It's like he's you second soul-mate the first soul-mate is you partner, your lover the one person that knows you the most intimately. Then there is your second soul-mate, the one you know is forever by your side, your friend and confidant, the one you go to, to bitch about soul-mate number one or more often than not, their absence." Catherine nodded again, tears forming in her eyes. "Sara's my number two soul-mate."

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry that I took a while to update, but I found that this chapter was so hard to write. It kind of leans away from the main story line, but it needed to be done, in order to move on so I hope you guys are bearing with me. I had a lot of trouble making it sound right. So if you have any suggestions on how to improve it let me know. 

For all of those who are fans of Nick, Greg, Brass and/or Warrick, don't panic, I promise that they will be coming back, if not in the next chapter, then definitely the chapter after that. Thank you for all the reviews!


	11. Chapter Eleven

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: T (PG-13)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

"_Honey?"  
_"_Mmm?"  
_"_I've been thinking,"  
_"'_Bout what?"  
_"_You, and me… and baby G." Sara turned on her side to face Grissom, pulling the blanket down from over her head in the process.  
_"_What?" she asked, wondering if she had heard right.  
_"_I want to create life," Grissom replied excitedly, his eyes wide.  
_"_Is this your mid-life crisis?" she asked, wiping the sleep out of the corner of her eyes.  
_"_No, Sara, I want us to procreate." Sara stared at him blankly.  
_"_Us, as in you and me?"  
_"_You took first year biology, you should know that I can't do it by myself." Sara rolled her eyes at him.  
_"_We just got engaged!"  
_"_So, we are getting married in two months, and I can't wait to start a family with you. We talked about this, you said you wanted kids!"  
_"_Yeah, I was talking about in a couple of years, not now!"  
_"_Why not now?" he asked.  
_"_Because, I just started my new job, and…"  
_"_So, you can take maternity leave," he suggested smirking at her.  
_"_Grissom are we ready for a kid?"  
_"_What do you mean?" he asked.  
_"_I mean, are we really ready? Am I really ready?"  
_"_Sara, you are going to make a great mom."  
_"_But what if I'm not, I don't know anything about kids. I don't know what they need, what they eat, how they think, what they wear," Grissom chuckled.  
_"_What are you worried the baby would hate you if you dressed it in an unfashionable jumpsuit?" Sara punched him lightly in the arm.  
_"_I'm just…" she tried to search for the word. "I just don't know."  
_"_Sara, all our child would need is two parents that love it more than anything else. And I know that you would love our daughter more than anything." The image of Grissom holding their child made Sara smile.  
_"_What makes you so sure it's going to be a girl?" she asked, after a few moments.  
_"_Does that mean yes?" he asked, hopefully. Sara thought about it for a few moments, then smiled her Sara smile at him.  
_"_Gilbert Grissom," she paused and leaned in to kiss him, then pulled back to look in his eyes. "I would love to create life with you."

* * *

_

The hustle and bustle of the morning staff arriving at the hospital, signalled the start of the day. Yet for the occupants of room 216, their day had not yet begun. Maddie lay on the bed in a drug induced sleep, her small frail body trying to fight the infection that had invaded it. Sara's head rested on her hands which were lying, crossed on the bed. Both were oblivious to the noise of the workers out in the hall, and the commuters on the near by road. For sitting in such an uncomfortable chair, it was the best sleep that Sara had had in at least five years.

The sound of the door opening, caused Sara to stir. Blinking wearily, she forced her eyes to focus on the person who had just entered the room.  
"Hey," she said softly, her voice thick from sleep.  
"Hey," Andrew whispered back, which caused Sara to giggle softly.  
"We can talk louder, you know, she can't hear us," she said speaking in her normal voice. Andrew forced a smile out, which Sara immediately noticed.  
"You ok?" she asked. Andrew nodded, to which Sara only glared at him. "Tell me, what's wrong!" she demanded.  
"I'm just…"  
"Just what?" Sara pushed gently.  
"I don't know it's hard to explain. This case, Catherine, Ryan and Molly, Maddie and you and Gil it's just a lot to deal with at the moment."  
"You push yourself too hard, you know that?"  
"And you don't?" he questioned.  
"Not as much as you do. You know that you are a much better father than your father ever was, so stop beating yourself up over Ryan and Molly. Last I heard they still love you. And this case is practically over, the hard bit has been done, Maddie's home, where she belongs. I know that you felt guilty for not being able to find her, but I need you to understand that Gil and I never blamed you, not once, not ever. How many hours did the three of us, sit down and go over the evidence? There was nothing that could be done. And…," she paused, raising her eyebrow at him. "What's going on with Catherine that's got you so worked up?"  
"It's nothing it was just a big misunderstanding." Sara narrowed her eyes, but on hearing a moan from the bed decided to let it go for now.

Turning around, her eyes met the beautiful calm ones in the bed. Sara smiled.  
'_Hey Maddie, do you remember your Uncle Andrew?' _Sara signed. Maddie studied him, then shook her head. Not expecting this answer, Sara turned to look at Andrew. His face was unreadable.  
"I'm just going to go," he said heading for the door. Turning before he left, he spoke to Maddie. "I'm glad that you're home."  
Maddie had turned to Sara to look for a translation, and when she turned back, he had gone.  
"Did I make him angry?" she asked worriedly. Sara smiled, and patted her arm,  
'_No, he's just got a lot going on right now,_' she replied. _'How did you sleep?'  
_'_Ok,' _she finger spelt. "When can we go home?" Maddie asked almost pleadingly.  
'_Soon,'_ Sara replied, not knowing the answer for sure.  
"Good," Maddie replied, looking around the room. "Am I going to go back to school?" she asked quietly.  
'_You need an education, Maddie,'_ Sara replied.  
"I know, but I mean you and Dad are smart, can't you teach me?"  
'_It's not the same thing.'_ Maddie looked away.  
"But I'm scared to go back to that school," She whispered.  
"Honey," Sara said, turning Maddie's face back to hers. _'Your father and I would never send you back to that school.'_ Maddie gave Sara a small smile. Maddie looked at Sara in a way that reminded her of Grissom trying to determine if a suspect is lying or not.  
"Thank you," she replied eventually.  
'_Why don't you get some more rest?'_ Sara asked her as Maddie stifled a yawn. Nodding, Maddie rolled over and closed her eyes.

Sighing, Sara sat back in her chair. Her mind began to tick over the things that they needed to discuss together, the three of them. Sara watched her daughter's chest rise and fall with each deep breath. It had a somewhat calming effect on her well-concealed panic. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be with Grissom just yet. She knew people would think it was stupid. She had been chasing him for the last four years, now that she had him, why was she considering letting him go? For them Sara had an easy answer, it was no longer just the two of them. Before Maddie had been found, Sara had just wanted them to go slow, build up their relationship back up to where it was. Friends first, then date for awhile, before moving back in together. But now Maddie was back and the last thing Sara wanted to do was to inform Maddie that her parents were no longer living together and that San Francisco was no longer their home.

They would have to move into Grissom's townhouse. It was bigger, for starters. Secondly, Maddie hadn't been held hostage in his apartment building. In all honesty, Sara didn't really feel comfortable living in her apartment now knowing who had been living in the apartment above hers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Turning around Sara saw Grissom standing awkwardly at the door.  
"What did you knock for?" she asked.  
"You looked deep in thought, I didn't want to walk in and frighten you. Sara smiled softly. "What were you thinking about?"  
"It's nothing really," she said casually. "Where have you been?"  
"I was calling Joan and Thomas and Mum, to let them know the good news," Grissom said coming to sit on the second chair beside Sara.  
"Really? How did they take it?"  
"Joan and Thomas are happy and told me to give Maddie their love." Sara smiled at the thought of her kind foster parents.  
"And your Mum?"  
"Well her new nurse, Rosa, who you would like, had to hide Mum's keys to stop her from driving to the airport." Sara chuckled, 'that sounded like Grissom's mother', she thought.  
"I said we would call her when we get home." Sara stiffened slightly, at the mention of home.

"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on her arm.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just wondering how we are going to tell out little girl about everything that has happened over the last five years."  
"I know, it's a lot to tell an already traumatised child." Sara nodded, leaning over to place her head on his shoulder, in the spot that had always been reserved for her. "But you know what?" he said rubbing her arm gently.  
"What?" she whispered into his neck.  
"We're going to work through it, together, as a family." Sara smiled and for the first time in five years she felt like everything was going in the right direction.

* * *

"_Oh, my God, Sara you look like an angel!" Hayley gushed. Sara stared at her best friend of twelve years, who nodded at her as if to reassure her. Slowly, Sara turned around, she gasped when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She had to blink several times to convince herself that the woman in the mirror was really her. Sara wasn't really all that feminine, she only wore dresses when she really had no other choice. _

_She hadn't always been like that. She had loved dressing up when she was little. That had changed that fateful night. She couldn't wear a dress without being reminded of the blood that had stained the front of her favourite dress, when she had rushed to her father's side. Nor could she rid the image of her mother, one of her closest friends, being led away in handcuffs. _

_Yet, these memories were only fleeting as she took in the sight of herself in her wedding gown. The strapless white bodice, that hugged her body nicely, had hand-sewn crystals sewn in intricate designs, the skirt flared out falling straight to the floor. Her long brown hair had been pulled back and held with combs, soft delicate curls had been allowed to fall out around her face. The veil was made out of the sheerest material, and fell to partway down her back. _

"_Are you sure I look okay?" Sara turned and asked her friend nervously. Hayley, came over and placed a hand on Sara's arm.  
_"_You look perfect," she assured her. Sara turned side on to the mirror, running a hand over her still flat stomach.  
_"_Hey, there little one," she whispered softly. "Mommy is marrying Daddy today, and I just want to let you know that we will always love you."

* * *

_

It was a constant beeping that woke her up. Sara shook her head, trying to remember where she was. The beeping became louder and faster, and then the memories flooded back to her. Maddie found, Maddie in the hospital. The door was thrown open with an almighty bang. Grissom who had been asleep in the corner, awoke with a start. Dr Winters was standing over the girl in the bed, a stethoscope pressed to Maddie's chest.

"Pulse is rapid and weak!" a nurse called out, as another one pushed Grissom and Sara out of the room.  
"Wait what's going on?" Sara asked.  
"Your daughter's condition is worsening," the nurse replied hastily.  
"But she was fine an hour ago," Grissom cut in.  
"I'm sorry, we'll do the best we can," she said squeezing Sara's shoulder softly, and giving Grissom a sympathetic smile before hurrying back into the room.

Grissom and Sara stood at the door, watching the doctors and nurses rushing around inside. Their state of jubilee at Maddie's return had well and truly faded. They had just gotten her back; and neither of them thought they could cope with losing her a second time.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long delay between updates. Life just got in the way, and then I lost my muse. However, on the bright side, the holidays are coming up so I will have plenty of time to write more then. Don't expect an update soon though, because I am right in the middle of my exam block, and a little bit stressed! 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: T (PG-13)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

"_Procreate… my ass," she muttered through gritted teeth. "I am never doing this again." Grissom chuckled, taking up her hand and squeezing it. _

"_It will all be worth it, I promise," he reassured her, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "When little Helena arrives…"_

"_We are not naming our kid after the butterfly hanging in our lounge room." She said firmly._

"_Why not, that's where she was conceived," he teased, receiving a punch for his efforts. "Sara," he continued seriously. "Helena is not just the name of a butterfly, it is also the name of a Shakespearean character and a Queen in Greek Mythology. Besides, what's wrong with being named after a butterfly? Sara is the name of a butterfly," he pointed out much to her annoyance._

"_We are not naming her Helena," she replied. Sensing that there was going to be no arguing with her, he dropped it. _

"_What do you want to call her?" he asked._

"_I don't know, I'll have to see what she looks like first." She smiled and squeezed his hand reassuring him that she wasn't angry with him._

"_You do know that you are the only man on earth I would voluntarily go through this much pain for, right?" she asked, sincerely. _

"_I know," he replied softly, rubbing her back as another contraction seized her. _

"_Well, you're fully dilated, are you ready to see your new baby?" the doctor asked them politely. _

"_Yes!"_

"_No!" they replied at the same time. Grissom looked over at his wife, she looked terrified. The reality of the situation seemed to have hit her suddenly. In a few minutes time, she would be seeing her child, the tiny human being that she had been carrying round for the last eight and a half months. _

"_Come on honey, you can do this," he encouraged her. _

"_No, I can't what if she doesn't like me. What if I am a terrible mother?" Grissom put his arms around her, and gave her a hug. _

"_Sara, you are kind and caring and you have a huge heart that's full of love, with those qualities you can't be anything but a good mother." Sara smiled through her tears, and feeling another contraction coming along, reached for Grissom's hand.

* * *

_

"… Thank you Ray, and now tears of joy for two families who were reunited with their daughters five years after they disappeared from a Catholic Elementary School in Brisbane, San Francisco. It is believe that the elder of the two girls, fourteen-year-old Emily Guthrie, escaped from their captor in the early hours of this morning and alerted authoritiesto the whereabouts of the apartment where they were being held, not far from the Las Vegas Strip. After a brief search, Las Vegas Police tracked the kidnapper to a hospital in Bakersfield, where he had sought help after eleven-year-old Madeleine Grissom had reportedly lost consciousness. She is said to be in a stable condition with both of her parents, Las Vegas Criminalists Gilbert and Sara Grissom, by her side. Police have the suspect in custody and will release more details in a press conference which has been scheduled in half an hour…"

Nick lowered the television volume, and turned to look a the small group gathered around the table in the break room. Shift had been over for several hours, but none of them had been able to bring themselves to leave.

"Something isn't right," Nick was the first to speak.

"I know, Isaacs will probably get off by reason of mental defect," Warrick agreed.

"No, I mean something doesn't feel right," Nick replied.

"But we got the guy, Catherine said he confessed to taking the girls, and that everyone was fine. Sara and Griss are by Maddie's bedside, she is physically fine. Emily is home with her parents! Everything is back to how it should be." Greg spoke up.

"I know man, but something just feels wrong. Sara should have called by know, she promised that she would and she hasn't," Nick insisted.

"She is probably busy catching up with Maddie, or maybe she just forgot." Brass suggested, from his spot at the head of the table.

"Nah, I can't explain it, but I think this is far from over."

"And you feel this because Sara hasn't called you yet?" Warrick asked, raising his eyebrows. Nick glared at him before looking at the floor. "Look, man, I know she promised, but her emotions are probably all over the place and she's tired, she'll probably remember to call in a few hours." Nick looked up and shrugged.

"Maybe you're right," he sighed, yet he couldn't squelch the uneasy feeling in his stomach.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, gathering their thoughts.

"Well, I'm headed off," Brass said standing up. "I'm gonna catch a few Z's because I have a whole lot of paperwork to do tonight." Nick and Warrick said their goodbyes, as Brass headed for the door.

"Wait!" Greg's voice piped up. Brass turned around to see the spiky-haired lab tech's attention focused on the television.

"What?" he asked a little too harshly, his exhaustion creeping through.

"Shhhhh," Greg replied reaching for the remote and turning the volume up.

"…ing us live from outside Bakersfield County Hospital is our reporter Sandra Martin. Sandra, we believe that you have some new news for our viewers."

"Thanks Jessica, yes, we have just been updated on kidnap victim, Madeleine Grissom's condition. She is now listed as critical and approximately two hours ago she was moved into intensive care. The hospital has not officially released the details of Madeleine's condition.They have said, however, thatshe remains in a drug induced coma. But viewers please note that these details have not been confirmed…"

Warrick grabbed the remote control off of Greg and turned the volume down. Everyone turned to look at Nick.

"Oh God."

* * *

"_Madeleine." she whispered. _

"_What?" Grissom asked. _

"_Madeleine," Sara repeated staring into the eyes of her hours old daughter. _

"_After Mom?" Sara nodded._

"_Ok…" Grissom watched as his daughter wrapped her tiny hand around his fist. " Charlotte." Sara cocked her head at him. "It means strong and courageous, and I can already tell that she takes after her mother." Sara smiled. _

"_Madeleine Charlotte Grissom," she whispered, looking at the child as though sizing her up. "It's perfect." She smiled as Grissom bent forward and kissed her, before leaning down to kiss their daughter.

* * *

_

"_She's smart," he said leaning on the railing of Maddie's crib. _

"_She one month old, how can you tell?" Sara asked, curiously. _

"_Well she started crying when she heard that you were making your meatloaf for dinner." Sara laughed, and jabbed Grissom in the side. _

"_She's not even having meatloaf for dinner."_

"_Ahh, but you see she was crying because she felt sorry that I had to endure the torture that you call meatloaf." Sara placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him. _

"_Well, if you don't want what I'm making, you have two options. You can make dinner, or you can starve." _

"_How does spaghetti sound?" he asked begrudgingly. _

"_Heavenly," she replied, sitting down and putting her feet up on the table, her mouth twisting into a huge smile.

* * *

_

"_Maddie, please sit still," Sara begged, trying to pin the last curl on Maddie's head in place. _

"_I'm scited!" Maddie enthusiastically replied. _

"_Excited," Sara corrected her. "Your Daddy better be home soon or you are going to drive me insane." At the sound of the front door opening, Maddie jumped off the chair and ran for the door. _

"_Daaaaaaady!" she yelled running to give him a hug. _

"_Thank God," Sara muttered, picking up a dish cloth and wiping the juice Maddie had spilt in her excitement earlier. _

"_Hi Beetle, are you annoying you mother?" he asked sternly. _

"_Maybe a wittle," she confessed. _

"_Little," Grissom corrected her and smiled. Going to ruffle her hair he stopped when he heard Sara's cry. _

"_Don't! It took me half an hour to do her hair, don't touch it!" _

"_Hello Honey, did someone wake you up early?" Grissom asked giving her a kiss. _

"_Four o'clock!" Maddie replied almost proudly. Grissom chuckled. _

"_And what where you doing up at four o'clock?" he asked bending down to be closer to Maddie's height. _

"_Getting ready to go to school," she replied happily. _

"_Is that today?" Grissom replied as though he had forgotten. _

"_Daaaady," she whined, knowing that he was teasing her. Grissom chuckled again and pulled her in for a hug. _

"_Well, I suppose we better be going if you don't want to be late." Maddie, pulled away and grinned. Running to her room she came back with a bright pink back pack, closely followed by Sara who was pulling on her shoes._

"_Oh, wait the camera!" she cried, running back towards the bedroom. _

"_Silly Mommy," Maddie said, shaking her head._

"_Silly Mommy." Grissom agreed.

* * *

_

Grissom stared at the wall in front of him. An hour and forty-five minutes, that's how long he had been sitting in this chair. An hour and fifty minutes, that's how long it had been since they had moved Maddie into the Intensive Care Unit. Two hours and forty-five minutes, that's how long it had been since they had been forced out of Maddie's room.

No one had told them anything. Sara had spent the first thirty minutes pacing, now she was just sitting in the chair beside him, chewing a nail. The last time he had seen her chewing her nails was the day Maddie had gone missing. Grissom knew that the fear was getting to her, he, himself, felt like he was drowning in it. He had sworn on whatever higher being there was that he would protect his daughter with his life, and he had failed her.

She had lost her hearing, she had been kidnapped and now she was in the ICU of Bakersfield County Hospital. He knew that he really should not be feeling guilty, it wasn't his fault these things happened, but deep down he felt like he had broken the first rule of being a father: protect you child at all costs. Although he didn't let on at the time, he had understood the pain that Susannah Kirkwood's father had felt. He had failed to protect his daughter, just as Grissom had failed to protect Maddie.

A cool hand on his cheek, brought him out of his self loathing.

"None of this is your fault you know," her voice was soft and low. Grissom turned to look at Sara, who had been watching him for the last half hour.

"I know," he replied meekly.

"Do you?" she asked, staring into his eyes. "I don't blame you, and I know that Maddie doesn't blame you, so you need to stop blaming yourself." Sometimes he hated just how well she knew him. She had always been good at picking up on his moods.

"It's just hard to be a bystander in all of this," he replied, his voice husky.

"I know," she whispered. He stared into her eyes and the pain he saw there broke his heart. He knew that she was seeing the same pain in his. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her into him. He had to remain positive. They were going to get through this.

'We just have to,' he thought to himself.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, yay another chapter done. The story is moving kind of slow at the moment, I admit it's entirely my fault. I'm just not quite sure where it is going, but hopefully the pace will pick up in the next couple of chapters. I will try and get the next chapter up soon. Sorry for all the delays, you know how it is on the holidays. Thank you for all the tremendous reviews, especially my 'regular' reviewers. I respect all of your comments and believe it or not I do take them all into consideration. Also, do you like the 'flashbacks' to the past or are they just confusing/annoying? - Liz 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: T (PG-13)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

"_Hey Baby Girl, what's wrong? Why are you crying, huh?" Leaning down, Sara picked up her six-month old daughter. Rocking her gently, she tried to soothe the crying girl. "What's the matter?" She asked gently, holding Maddie up to look into her eyes. As Sara was bringing her down to her shoulder again, Maddie's forehead fell forward and landed on her cheek. The amount of heat that radiated from Maddie's head shocked Sara. Pulling back, she placed a hand on her forehead. _

"_Oh, my God!" Sara cried and ran to the phone, Maddie still crying in her arms. "Grissom, it's Maddie she's got a high fever. I'm taking her to the hospital can you meet us there?"_

_Sara rushed into the emergency room, breaking several laws in the process. _

"_Please I need a doctor. It's my daughter she's burning up," Sara cried to the nurse on duty, her eyes wide with fear. _

"_Follow me," the nurse replied, leading Sara to the paediatrics wing. She showed Sara to an examination room. "Just wait here the doctor will be with you shortly." Sara looked up. _

"_Thank you, my husband…"_

"_When he arrives I will send him up," the nurse replied kindly. _

"_Thank you," Sara whispered, gently rocking the upset child. "Shhh, honey, shhh. Daddy will be here soon. I promise everything will be fine." _

_Ten minutes later Grissom arrived, his face flushed from his run up from the emergency room. _

"_I got here as soon as I could," he breathed heavily. _

"_It's ok, the doctor's in with her now." _

"_What happened?" he asked, leaning against the wall outside the room. _

"_She wouldn't stop crying, so I picked her up to try and rock her to sleep, and her forehead felt like it was on fire. That's when I called you." Grissom placed an arm around her shoulders. _

"_Can we go in?" Sara nodded and opened the door and the doctor looked up. _

"_Mrs Grissom, Mr Grissom, your daughter just has a bit of the flu."_

"_Oh, thank God," Sara breathed into Grissom's chest. His arms wrapped themselves around her. _

"_Will she be ok?" Grissom asked. _

"_She'll be fine, after a round of antibiotics," the doctor replied, smiling at them, leaving them alone. Together they walked over to the bed, where their daughter laid, sleeping peacefully. _

"_I was so scared."_

"_I know, I was too," Grissom replied. _

"_Everything's fine, she's ok. She's alright."

* * *

_

"I'm sorry sir, I cannot let you through unless you are a relative of the child," the nurse said exasperatedly.

"I'm Maddie's uncle," Andrew replied almost frantically, running a hand through his hair.

"Sir, I know that you are the FBI agent on the case, and I'm not authorised to allow…"

"You're right I am the FBI agent, but I am also Madeleine's uncle. Ask Sara or Gil if you don't believe me." The nurse took in his distressed appearance.

"Ok, stay here," she warned, turning and walking into the intensive care unit.

Sara straightened as the nurse walked into the waiting room.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr and Mrs Grissom," she began.

"What's wrong? Is it Maddie? What's wrong with her?" Grissom asked, sitting up.

"Oh, no, I don't know the condition of you daughter." Grissom slumped back in his chair. "The FBI agent on your daughter's case is here. He claims to be her uncle. Shall I let him through?" Sara looked at Grissom, who nodded.

"Of course," he replied.

A minute later, Andrew came hurrying through the waiting room door.

"I'm sorry. I tried to come as soon as I heard, but I was…" he was cut off, as Sara rose to give him a hug.

"It's ok."

"Have you heard anything yet?" Andrew asked. Grissom shook his head and mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Not yet."

"How are you both doing?"

"Surviving. Just surviving."

* * *

"Custody of one Timothy John Isaacs is officially transferred to the FBI, San Francisco Missing Person's Department," Sheriff Watson signed the transfer papers. 

"One step closer to this all being over," Catherine commented signing her name underneath the Sheriff's.

"I can only imagine what the Grissom's have been through."

"Yeah, they've been through a lot. I know if it were my daughter…" she paused, then shook her head. Sheriff Watson noticed the change in Catherine's mood, and promptly changed the subject.

"Well, Ms Willows it's been a pleasure to work with you," he said extending his hand.

"Same here, all twelve hours," she replied lightly, returning the gesture. Sheriff Watson chuckled.

"You know, if your ever in Bakersfield or even just passing by…" Catherine smiled.

"You'll be the first person I call."

"Excellent, maybe we can grab a beer. The local bar is a fantastic establishment. Great food, great music…"

"Why do I get the feeling you are friends with the owners?"

"They're my in-laws." Catherine laughed.

"Bye, Sheriff and thanks for everything."

"Bye, Catherine."

* * *

"_Daddy?"_

"_Yes, Beetle?" Grissom asked not raising his eyes from the newspaper._

"_What does it mean to die?" Grissom lowered the paper and found two curious blue eyes staring back at him. _

"_Where did you hear that?" he asked. _

"_Freddie James told me that his doggy died, but I didn't know what he meant." Grissom sighed, he had been dreading this question. He stared as his inquisitive daughter, stood there looking at him patiently waiting for an answer. _

"_Well, Beetle, when something dies. It means that it is no longer living." Madeleine stared at her father, her face twisted in confusion. _

"_I don't unnerstand."_

"_Un**d**erstand, you don't understand," he paused and patted his knee. Madeleine followed his cue and climbed up onto his lap. "Honey, you know how our hearts beat?" He asked,placing her small hand over his heart. Maddie nodded. "Well, that means that we are alive. When our heart stops beating, it means that we have died, and instead of living here we move on to a better place."_

"_Where?" she asked, innocently. _

"_Have you heard of a place called Heaven?" Maddie shook her head in the negative._

"_Well it is a very special place, where good people go when they die."_

"_But what do they do there?" _

"_I don't know. I've never been there," Grissom answered._

"_Can dogs go to Heaven?" Grissom chuckled. _

"_Of course they can. All animals and people can go to Heaven as long as they are good."_

"_Where do they go if they are bad?"_

"_To a horrible place that we do not talk about." Maddie stared wide-eyed at her father._

"_Do you think Freddie James' dog went to Heaven?" Grissom placed a kiss on his daughter's cheek._

"_Yes, I think he did." _

"_Good. 'Cause I don't want him to go to the bad place."

* * *

_

Andrew, Sara and Grissom sat beside each other in the hard plastic chairs. It had been four hours since Maddie had been moved to the ICU and still they had no word from the doctor. Nurses and doctors had been constantly coming and going through the two doors in the corner, none of them stopping to tell them anything. 

The lack of information unnerved Grissom. Surely they should have told them something by now. The sound of the door opening once more caught their attention, and through it walked Dr Winters followed closely by an older man in a lab coat. He looked to be in his mid-fifties, with a perfect head of silver hair. He gave off a friendly vibe, which eased Sara's nausea, if only a tiny bit.

Sara, Andrew and Grissom all stood.

"Well?" Grissom asked.

"Dr Grissom, Mrs Grissom, Agent Charlton this is Dr Lindeman he's an infectious disease specialist," Dr Winters introduced the man beside her.

"Infectious diseases?" Andrew queried.

"We believe Madeleine has contracted tuberculosis."

"What? Why? How is that possible?" Sara asked, her mind reeling.

"Tuberculosis is an infection, primarily found in the lungs. It's caused by a bacteria known as _Mycobacterium Tuberculosis_ and is usually picked up through infected air particles. I believe that your daughter's been around an infected person when they coughed or sneezed. To begin with tuberculosis usually remains asymptomatic, which means that no symptoms appear, it's inactive, if you will. Usually a weakness in the immune system activates the infection. I think in Madeleine's case, she caught a bit of the flu which weakened the immune system." Dr Lindeman explained.

"Can you treat it?" Grissom asked.

"Madeleine had a moderate to severe infection. However, I believe with daily oral medications for about six to eights months, she should pull through just fine." Grissom and Andrew sighed with relief, assilent tears fell down Sara's face.

"Can we move her back to Las Vegas?" Grissom questioned.

"You could if you wanted to, but I recommend that she stays here for at least a few more days. Her immune system is severely weakened at the moment, so moving her could be potentially dangerous."

"No, I don't want to put her in any danger," Grissom stated.

"She's still in a drug induced coma, and probably won't wake for a couple of hours, butyou can go in and see her if you like." Grissom and Sara nodded.

"We want to see her," Sara said through a fresh flood of tears.

"Of course," the doctor said, turning to lead the way.

"I'm going to go," Andrew said.

"Aren't you going to see her?" Sara asked, wiping the tears from her face.

"No, I think the three of you need to be together at the moment. Besides, I have to get Isaacs back to Frisco tonight," he paused. "I'm glad Maddie's going to be ok. I promise I will come down for a visit, after you get settled back in Vegas." Sara threw her arms around him.

"Thank you for everything," she whispered, then kissed his cheek.

"I didn't do much," he answered modestly.

"You did more than you will ever know," Grissom replied, shaking hand with his brother-in-law. "Sara and I owe you a lot."

"Neither of you owe me anything," he said, turning to leave. "Give Maddie my best."

"We will," Sara replied, giving him a small smile. Watching Andrew leave, Grissom turned to Sara.

"Let's go see our girl."

* * *

A/N: Yay! Maddie lives! Anyway, thank you for all the kind reviews, and for being patient with me. I'm going to try and write the next few chapters so that I am ahead instead of being under pressure to get the next chapter out. So, expect a small delay for the next chapter. Sorry! Don't throw things at me! (At least I'm not leaving you on a cliff hanger :-)) 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Good Morning America, I'm Carol Henway and making the news this morning, the jury at the trial of suspected child kidnapper Timothy Isaacs, is expected to hand down the verdict later today. Isaacs was arrested six months ago and charged with the kidnapping of then nine-year-old Emily Guthrie and six-year-old Madeleine Grissom. The two girls were held captive for nearly five years, before the eldest of the two managed to run away and alert police. If convicted, Mr Isaacs is facing life in prison with no chance of parole. In other news today…" the TV shut off.

"I just want this over with," Sara groaned from her position perched on the edge of the bed in her hotel room. Grissom finished buttoning up his shirt, and walked over to sit beside her, gently taking her hand.

"I know, honey, we all do." Sara fell sideways so that her head rested on Grissom's shoulder. He absent-mindedly stroked her hair, as he thought over the events of the last few months.

* * *

After a couple of weeks in Bakersfield, the doctors felt it was safe to transport Maddie to a private hospital in downtown Las Vegas so that she could be closer to her parents. Since arriving in Vegas, Maddie had been seeing a psychiatrist specialising in childhood trauma. Over the months they had made a significant amount of progress. The inevitable nightmares that had plagued her since she returned home had lessened in number, but not in intensity. Despite the progress, the trial seemed to have brought back a lot of memories, and as much as her parents tried to shield her from anything pertaining to the case she still had to testify, she still had to see his face. 

Grissom returned to work, whilst Sara, much to everyone's surprise, took indefinite leave in order to spend her time as an at home mum. As much as Grissom wanted to be the one that stayed home, he knew that money-wise, his Supervisor's salary paid a lot more than Sara's lowly CSI3 salary did.

Once deemed safe by thedoctors, Madeleine returned to school, scared and unsure but, after a lot of work with the psychiatrist, determined to get over her fear. Since the first time they discussed Maddie returning to school, back when shehad first been found, Sara and Maddie had reversed their positions. Maddie wanted to go to help conquer her fear and move on with her life. Sara on the other hand, was petrified of something happening. She was only persuaded when Grissom bought Maddie a mobile phone and taught her how to send a text message if anything was wrong.

Slowly but surely, things were improving. Grissom and Sara had bought a house together in the outer suburbs of Las Vegas for a number of reasons. Firstly, both Sara and Maddie were reluctant to stay in Sara's apartment, knowing that Maddie had been held hostage in that very same building. Secondly, Grissom and Sara had wanted to provide a stable environment for their daughter to live in and they felt that making her travel between two apartments wasn't the life she needed. It also helped take Sara and Grissom to that next step. Slowly but surely they were rebuilding their relationship. They had passed friendship and had moved onto something slightly more intimate. Both were happy with their current situation as they felt they were building a much stronger foundation for their relationship to stand on. All together things had been looking up.

* * *

Whimpers, coming from behind the door on the other side of the room,drew Sara and Grissom's attention. They knew what those sounds meant and without hesitation both stood up and crossed the room. Grissom opened the door, and sure enough Maddie was tossing and turning in her bed. 

"Maddie? Wake up, honey," Grissom said, more to himself than to Maddie. He knew she wouldn't be able to hear him. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to get her to stir. Sara rubbed her hand on Maddie's back, trying to gently bring her back to consciousness. Slowly Maddie awoke, sweat beaded on her forehead. She jumped when she realised that there were hands on her back and shoulder. Turning quickly, she met the eyes of her parents and she relaxed.

'_It was just a bad dream,'_ Sara signed. Maddie shook her head.

"No it was real," she replied. "I was there, it happened." Sara pulled Maddie into a hug, rocking her gently back and forth.

Grissom forced himself to appear calm, but Maddie's inner turmoil was breaking his heart.

'_Would you like something special for breakfast?' _Grissom signed and spoke to Maddie, as she watched him over Sara's shoulder.

"Pancakes, please," she replied. Grissom smiled softly at her.

"Sara?" he questioned.

"Just some fruit, I don't think I can eat very much."

"You need to eat something substantial, I will order you some toast as well," he said in a tone that meant he wouldn't take no for an answer.

* * *

Pulling up outside the courthouse, Sara and Grissom eyed the crowd warily. After paying the driver, they exited the cab. The throng of reporters had turned towards the car as it pulled up and when the family exited, they mobbed the car. Instinctively, they each took one of Maddie's hands and kept her between them as they were escorted through the press by court house security. 

They were led into a small room near the court room that had been provided for them as a place to escape the press. Inside Emily and her parents were already seated, anxiously waiting for the verdict to commence. Immediately, Emily and Maddie were at each others sides. When they were in the same room it was very hard to separate them. The psychiatrist had explained that it was to be expected that they would be close.

"They both survived a traumatic experience together, it is only natural that they would form a bond that no one else would be able to understand," She had said.

To accommodate, Grissom and Sara had done everything they could to keep the girls in contact, bar moving to San Francisco. The girls wrote letters and emails, and ever since Sara had shown Maddie how to use instant messaging, they had constantly been online chatting. The constant clicking of the keyboard keys was slowly driving Sara crazy, but she kept quiet because she knew that Maddie needed to talk to someone, even if it couldn't be her.

"James, Adrianna, how are you this morning?" Grissom asked, shaking Emily's parent's hands.

"We've been better," James replied, offering a weak smile. "Personally, I just want this to be over."

"Me too," echoed Sara, Adrianna and Grissom, as they watched the two girls conversing fluidly in sign language quite unlike the sign language that Grissom and Sara knew.

Sara watched, Grissom, James and Adrianna deep in conversation about something or other and the two girls in a world of their own, as she tried to keep the bile from rising up her throat. It had been a long and emotional trip to San Francisco for everyone, but Sara had found the trial particularly difficult. She had been in plenty of court rooms before, understandably with her job, but this particular court room had significant meaning to Sara. This was only her second trial held in this particular courtroom, but she had every detail etched into her memory, from the sound echoing off the walls, to the details on the chairs, to the smell of the room and the stain on the carpet of the second row on the right-hand side. The last time she was in this room, her life had been turned upside down.

* * *

"_Sara? Sara?" Sara jumped as a hand tapped on her shoulder. Turning around quickly to scold the person who interrupted her thinking, she came face to face with her foster mother, immediately her anger dissipated. "It's time, Sara," she said kindly, gently guiding Sara to the door that led to the courtroom. _

_Walking down the aisle, Sara felt the many eyes on her. She wished she didn't have to be here. She wished that she was anywhere but in that courtroom. Slowly, she sat down onto the hard wooden bench, trying to avoid the gaze of the woman not ten feet away, who was trying to get her attention. _

"_All rise!" the Bailiff called and everyone stood as Judge Waterston entered the court room. Sara tuned out most of the legal mumbo jumbo that followed, she knew the line that would matter the most, the line that would affect her entire life. _

"_How do you find the defendant?" _

"_In the crime of murder in the second degree, we the jury find the defendant, Laura Sidle, guilty." The rest of the juror's words were drowned out by the murmuring of the crowd. _

_Sara sat numbly in her seat. Guilty, her mother was guilty of killing her father. In that moment she honestly couldn't have told you if she was happy or upset with the decision. On one hand, it meant the beatings, the alcohol and the fighting all stopped. On the other hand it also meant she had no one, no family and no friends. _

"_Sara, sweetheart, I did this for us. I love you, remember that," Laura Sidle yelled across the courtroom, as Sara wiped a stray tear that had escaped her eye. She turned to her foster mother. _

"_I want to go now, please," she said standing up and exiting the room, never acknowledging her mothers cries.

* * *

_

Andrew slowed as he entered the courthouse, breathing heavily from his dash from his car, through the press and into the building. He had been stuck in the office and had only just got away. The court should be going into to session soon, and he had feared that he wouldn't make it. Apart from needing to be there in an official capacity as lead FBI investigator, Andrew had wanted to sit beside his sister, niece and brother-in-law, he knew that Sara would need the comfort.

Sara had never talked about her mother's trial. Whenever he would ask, she would say that it was all in the past and he shouldn't worry about it. He had seen Sara's reaction when she was told what courtroom the trial was going to be in, and he wasn't an FBI investigator for nothing. Nodding to the courthouse security as he passed, he smiled as he recognised three of the four heads in front of him.

"Mum, Dad!" he called out, chasing after them.

"Andy," his mother said stepping forward to give her son a hug. He pulled back and shook his father's hand.

"Dad."

"It's good to see you, son," Thomas replied.

"Mrs Grissom, it's good to see you again," Andrew said slowly and carefully, making sure she could read his lips before stepping forward to kiss Grissom's mother on the cheek.

"Oh, Andrew, it has been too long I'm afraid," she said patting him lightly on the cheek. Andrew smiled at her and turned to face the last of the quartet.

"Hi, I'm Andrew, Sara's brother," he introduced himself, extending his hand out in greeting.

"I'm Rosa, Mrs Grissom's nurse. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," she smiled, shaking his hand.

"Me too," he replied. "It's good of you all to come today. I know Gil, Sara and Maddie would appreciate your support," he said gesturing for them to follow him as he led them to the room where everyone was waiting.

"We wanted to be here for them, but we just couldn't sit through the trial, it's too depressing," his mother explained.

"Quite understandable," Andrew replied. "I've never really liked trials myself."

"I would have tried to come sooner but Rosa refused to drive me up here, but I am glad I could be here today," Mrs Grissom said, having been keeping up with the conversation through Rosa's signing.

"Well, you came, that's all that matters," Andrew said opening to door to the waiting room.

"Mum! Dad!" Sara said jumped up to greet her foster parents, giving each of them a hug and kiss on the cheek. Grissom, meanwhile, was conversing rapidly with his mother in sign language, before giving her a hug.

An abrupt knock on the door, brought an end to their greetings. The room fell silent as Andrew, who was closest to the door, opened it to find a court attendant standing there.

"They're ready for you now," he announced to the two families, and proceeded to lead them to the courtroom.

They paused outside the doors and Sara stopped to take a deep breath. Grissom sensing her discomfort, grabbed her hand in his and held it tightly intertwining their fingers. The doors opened and their large party entered the court room. Sara felt the familiar sense of déjà vu strike her as she walked down that aisle. The court spectators were watched the group as they walked down the aisle. They made their way to the front row and sat. Sara held Grissom's hand in her left hand and Maddie's in her right. The seconds seemed to tick by slowly, and Sara's heart was racing, the anxiety reaching an all time high. Grissom noticed her uneasiness and squeezed her hand again and immediately she felt a little calmer, at least she no longer felt like throwing up.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the bailiff asked to court to stand and Sara's heart jumped into her mouth. Grissom let go of Sara's hand so that he could translate what was being said for Maddie. Once again Sara tuned out all of the legal talk and concentrated on listening for those important few words.

"Jury? How do you find the defendant?"

"On the charge of two counts of kidnapping, we find the defendant, Timothy Isaacs, not guilty by reason of mental defect."

* * *

A/N: Ok, please don't hate me! I know it's been a long time, approx. six months I think, but I had the worst case of writer's block and I ran out of enthusiasm for the story, which is never a good thing. Anyway, as much as I would love to say my muse is cooperating with me at the moment it isn't, plus I have a Med School Admissions test coming up soonwhich I will be studying for, so I'm not going to give you a time frame for when the next chapter will be out, though I do promise that I will NOT abandon this story and I will get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thank you for all your kind reviews and sticking with this story. - _Liz_


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR – How do you forget the past, when the past come back to haunt you?

A/N: Post Bloodlines

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

Previously…

_Sara tuned out all of the legal talk and concentrated on listening for those few words. _

"_Jury? How do you find the defendant?" _

"_On the charge of two counts of kidnapping, we find the defendant, Timothy Isaacs, not guilty by reason of mental defect."_

Now…

"On the charge of two counts negligence we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of two counts of child endangerment we find the defendant guilty. The jury recommends that the defendant be placed into psychiatric care," the juryman finished.

"Thank you," the judge said, sighing as he mulled over his sentencing decision. Judge Anthony Walker always hated criminal cases involving children and this one had particularly pulled at his heart strings, he had two young granddaughters. However, he knew that he had a job to do and he couldn't let his personal feelings rule the case.

"I hearby sentence Mr Timothy Isaacs to eight years in the custody of Daystone Mental Institution, release pending a full psychiatric review. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, thank you for your time. This court is adjourned."

Sara sat numbly in her seat. Eight years. Eight years in a mental hospital. Eight years for taking five years of her daughter's life. It didn't seem fair. The chattering of the court spectators slowly began to grow louder and louder as the news sunk in. The sentence, didn't seem like enough. Nothing could seem like enough. Nothing could erase the mental scars that the girls would carry for the rest of their lives.

She felt a warm sensation and looked up through her tears into Grissom's caring face. The tears fell faster and faster, as Grissom gathered her up in a hug, whispering comforting words into her ear. She felt a tug on her right hand and turned to see Maddie standing in front of them. Immediately, Sara opened her arms and Maddie collapsed herself into them. Sara held her daughter close and looked up at Grissom, who had his arms around both of them.

"It doesn't seem like enough," she whispered.

"I know it doesn't, but it's over, Sara, we can move on and carry on with the rest of our lives. Maddie will be 20 years old when he is released. Let's go home and live our lives, together, as a family," he said, smiling at her. Sara nodded her eyes still misty.

"Let's go home."

* * *

"_Where the hell have you been?" a furious voice called out from behind her, turning around she came face to face with her father. _

"_I stayed behind after school to ask Mr Jacobs a question about my biology assignment and then I had to stop off at the library to get some books." She could smell the whiskey on his breath. _

"_You were supposed to be back here two hours ago!"_

"_I'm sorry!"_

"_Sorry isn't good enough, I need your help around here, this place won't run itself. When I ask you to be home, you come straight home. You know the rules and you broke them, now you must face the consequences."_

_It was during times like these when she would focus all of her attention on the sweet and charming man he would be when he wasn't drunk. The father that indulged his daughter, with the things her mother would never have let her have; ice-cream before dinner, a new book, a new record for her collection; the father that took her to the zoo and made sand castles with her on the beach, the man that would sing her to sleep with his song of the month; the man that never beat her, or her mother; the man who used his belt to hold his jeans up, not as a form of sadistic punishment. _

_She would remember thinking how strange it was that a beverage could impart such a difference upon a person. As the punishment would continue she would remember saying to herself, 'it's just the alcohol, it's just the alcohol', over and over again. _

_After it was over, she went to her room and crawled under the covers. Tears poured down her face as she mentally tried to come to grips with this latest round of punishment. A short time later, her father entered her room._

"_Did I say you could go, Sara?" he asked her. She shifted nervously under the blankets. This was new, he had never followed her before. _

"_N-n-no," she stuttered, as he glared at her from the door. _

"_That's right, I never said you could leave, did I, you bitch. You are becoming just like your mother, you know." Sara's eyes grew wide in fear, as he began to approach her bed, leering at her. He climbed onto her bed, pinning her down with his hands. Using all of her might, Sara shoved her knee into his crotch, and used his preoccupation and alcohol-inhibited movements to make a quick escape out of the door, down the stairs, through reception and out of the front door. She never stopped to look back, she just kept running. _

_She ran and ran for what felt like forever, taking every cross-country way she could find to ensure he couldn't follow her. She only slowed when the sun began to set and darkness crept over the land. She sat down on a park bench cold, tired and hungry. She must have sat there for hours, until the need for food overcame her. _

'_Hopefully he will be asleep by now,' she thought, as she turned and headed for home. Arriving at the bed and breakfast she could hear the yelling from the street. She hesitated, trying to decidewhether or not she should go in. In the end she decided to sit out on the porch. She had only been sitting there a few minutes when everything, suddenly, fell silent._

'_He must have passed out," she thought as she entered her home. _

_There were several guests standing around the entrance, and all of them looked at her as she entered. Some, she could tell, looked scared; others seemed relieved thatshe was ok. Sam, the night manager, had the phone to his ear talking quietly. Later, Sara had found out that he had been the onethat called 911.He gave her a reassuring smile.He had helped Sara and her mother many timesafter nights like this.This time however, seemed different. Everything was eerily quiet, too quiet. Slowly she made her way towards the private residence. Mr Robinson, from room three, grabbed a hold of her preventing her fromentering.Sara struggled against her restraint, something was very, very wrong. The door to the private residence opened, and through it walked her mother, covered in blood, and a knife held loosely in her hand. Several of the guests screamed, one or two fainted. Laura Sidle looked out of it. Sara, broke free of Mr Robinson's grasp and raced towards the residence. _

_In her entire life, Sara knew that she would never be able to erase that image from her head. Her father, lying crumpled in a pool of his own blood. The coppery smell overpowering all of her other senses. She didn't know how long she stood there; all she could remember was someone leading her away from the body of her dead father. The abuse, the suffering, the pain, the yelling, the fights, all of it was over; and her life would never be the same again.

* * *

_

Sara sat up suddenly, scaring Grissom, who had been trying to wake her ever since he had started to hear her moaning.

"Honey?" he asked softly. "Are you alright?" Sara, took in deep gasping breaths, her fear consuming her. He wrapped his arms around her. "It's ok, Sara, I've got you. Everything's going to be alright." Tears fell down Sara's face, and Grissom lovingly wiped them away.

He placed his arms around her, and Sara found herself melting into them. He wondered what it was that had her so terrified. He remembered her telling him, soon after shehad cometo work for him in Vegas, about having nightmares about her cases, and he wondered if it was another one of those. She had only been working as a consultant for the last couple of months, none of them had seemed to affect her too much. Maybe, he had been wrong.

"I'm sorry," Sara mumbled into his chest after awhile.

"That's ok, you know that I am here for you anytime, right?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, I know that," she replied, softly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. "Is it a new one?" Sara shook her head.

"It was mom and dad," she whispered. Her voice broke Grissom's heart, and he tightened his hold on Sara.

"Are you going to be able to sleep?" Sara shook her head.

"It's only a couple of hours till I would normally get up anyway. You should some sleep, make the most of your night off."

"I'm awake now, anyway," he said getting up off of the bed. "Come on, I'll make us a coffee."

"I'm sorry," Sara started to apologise, but Grissom hushed her with a wave of his hand. Coming round to the other side of the bed, he enveloped her into another hug. "You've got nothing to be sorry about."

Sara sighed a soft thank you into his chest. Grissom had changed so much since Madeleine's return, he was back to being the old Grissom that she had first fallen in love with; not the closed in Grissom, but the, not completely open, but easily accessible Grissom. She smiled as she followed Grissom out of the bedroom, down the hallway and out into the kitchen. She sat down at the counter, and watched as Grissom went about getting their coffee. Sighing softly she wondered how her life had gone from bad to good, to bad to good again.

For a long time after her father was killed, Sara had a problem trusting authority figures and especially men. It was a long time before she trusted her new family. While Joan and Thomas Charlton were lovely people, and nothing at all like her parents had been, the entire time she had lived with them she had kept a back pack hidden under her bed in case she ever felt the need to run away. Andrew had played a large part in helping her get over her fear of men.He had been through a similar traumatic childhood, before Joan and Thomas took him in.It had been Grissom, however, that had helped her overcome that last hurdle and let someone into her heart.

"Here," Grissom placed the steaming mug in front of her.

"Thanks," she replied, savouring the warmth radiating from the mug in her hand.

"Did you sign Maddie's field trip form?" Grissom asked, leading her over to sit on the sofa.

"Yeah, I gave it to her last night."

"Oh, good she reminded me yesterday morning, but I completely forgot."

"That's alright, I know that case has been getting to you." The team had been working on the death of five teenagers at a party out in Henderson. So far they only had one lead, and it was sketchy at best.

"It hasn't been going very well. The kids had been given a contaminated batch of ecstasy, when we questioned the guy that gave it to them, he didn't even care. He made me so mad," Grissom said punching the sofa beneath him.

"I know how you get during these cases," Sara said placing her hand over his. Grissom smiled at her, and raised his hand to brush her cheek.

"How are you doing?" he asked, and Sara knew he was referring to her dream.

"I'm fine, it's just been a while since I've had that one."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Sara replied softly. "But thank you for offering." Grissom pulled her closer, and knowing that she wouldn't want to discuss it any further, he leaned forward and grabbed the remote control for the television. Turning it on, he flipped to the science channel and together they sat and watched a documentary about tornados.

* * *

Sara dropped Maddie off at school, and headed towards the lab. Grissom had decided to go in and work on the case. Sara had been asked to come in and consult for the day. She liked it like this. She could still do the work she loved, but it took away a lot of the pressure, and as an added bonus she could spend more time with Maddie as she mostly only worked school hours. Pulling into the car park, she spotted Grissom's car and took the free space next to it. Grabbing hers and Grissom's lunch, she climbed out of the car and headed inside. 

"Hey Sara!" Greg called out, as he headed over to her.

"Hey Greg, still working?"

"Just heading home actually. How's Maddie?"

"She's good, she's going to Lake Tahoe today, her science class are studying ecology at the moment."

"That's great. Is she enjoying it?"

"She likes the parts that have to do with bugs," Sara chuckled.

"Like father, like daughter, huh," Greg responded laughing.

"Yeah, I have jars and jars of bugs all over my house!"

"Oh poor Sara!" Greg empathised, before stifiling a yawn. "Sorry, I better go home and catch so shut eye, before I have to be back here. Say hi to Maddie for me."

"I will, have a good sleep Greg."

"I just pulled a triple, so I will be sleeping like a baby," Greg said as he bounded out of the door. 'I wonder how many coffees he's had,' Sara wondered. Shaking her head, Sara headed for the break room.

Depositing their lunch into the fridge, Sara headed towards Grissom's office.

"Hey ya boss, what's up?" Grissom looked up from his mound of paperwork.

"Brass is bringing a suspect by in about half an hour for questioning?" He rubbed his face tiredly.

"Do you think it's the guy?" Sara asked curiously, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Grissom's desk.

"No, I don't think so; he has no real reason to have poisoned the drugs. I think it was the guy that gave it to them, but he is smarter than I thought he was. He's covered up his tracks well."

"Is there anything that you would like me to do?" Grissom glanced down at the file in front of him.

"Yeah, actually can you try and find any other connection between Robert Godwin, the dealer, or Martin Jefferies, the distributor, and any of the kids at that party. Maybe it was intended for someone else."

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks, if you need to go out into the field, take Vega with you."

"Ok. I put your lunch in the fridge." Grissom smiled at her.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome," Sara said getting up and coming round the other side of the desk. She placed a gentle kiss on Grissom's cheek.

"I better get back to work or my boss, might get upset," she teased gently.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Grissom wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Please don't ever do that again," Sara said laughing. "I'll see you later," she said giving him one last peck on the cheek.

"Now here is a scene I cannot get used to," A voice spoke up from the door. Grissom and Sara looked up to see Catherine smiling at them. "You've both been different ever since Maddie got back. You both seem happier, more care free, not overworked and sad," she paused and stared at them again. "It's great to see."

"Thanks," Sara replied, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I should get started on that stuff right away." With one last glance at Grissom, Sara was gone.

"Family and marriage is good for you, my friend," Catherine said sitting down in the chair Sara had previously vacated.

"What can I do for you Catherine?" Catherine smirked at Grissom's avoidance.

"Brass wanted me to tell you that he's got the suspect and their waiting for you at the station." Grissom glanced at his watch.

"Damn, he's early." Standing up Grissom gathered his files together. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'm going home to get some much needed sleep. I will see you tonight."

"Sure, I'll see you tonight," Grissom said as he rushed out of the door.

Catherine picked up the photo that sat in pride of place on Grissom's desk. She gazed at the photo of Sara, Grissom and Maddie, taken barely a month ago. All three looked happy. She had known Grissom nearly ten years and she had never seen him as carefree as he had been over the last few months. Of course when she had first met him, he had just lost his daughter, but still she was happy for him and Sara. They both deserved each other after everything they had been through. Placing the photo back down on the desk, she left Grissom's office, planning a shopping trip for Lindsey and herself after school had ended for the day.

* * *

Sara lent back in the chair, she had been in front of the computer for the last three hours and still she was no closer to finding a link between the suspects and the people at the party. Grissom had returned from the interview just over an hour ago. They hadn't really found anything that was of use, however, the search warrant for the dealer home had finally come through. So he was back out in the field again. 

Deciding that she needed a break, Sara got up from her computer, and headed for the break room. Grabbing her sandwich and a bottle of water, she decided to head outside for a bit of fresh air.

Brushing stray crumbs off of her jeans, Sara looked up in time to see Grissom's Tahoe enter the parking lot. Standing up she walked over to greet him.

"Hey, how'd the search go?"

"We found aconite in the guy's house, I'm going to get Hodges to test it to see if it was the same poison used to contaminate the drugs. How's the search going?"

"Not very well, I haven't found anything yet. I needed a break, so I came out here. Come on you need something to eat." Nodding Grissom followed as Sara led him inside.

* * *

Mary Watson was on shift at the reception of the Las Vegas Crime Lab when a lady not much older than herself entered the building. Tall and of slight build, her clothes whilst plain and simple, were neat and pressed, and her greying hair was combed so that it fell down past her shoulders in soft waves. She looked nervous as she approached the desk, her eyes continually looking all around her. She looked like this was the last place on Earth she would want to be. 

"Hello, may I help you?" Mary asked the woman, gently.

"Um, yes I hope so," the woman spoke in a soft voice. "I was wondering if a Sara Sidle or a Sara Grissom worked here." Mary smiled at the woman.

"Yes, she does consultation work for us. I'll just check to see if she is in today." Mary picked up the phone to ring through and check, when Sara and Grissom walked through the front door. Placing the phone back down in its cradle, she called out to Sara.

"Ms Sidle, there's a lady here to see you."

Sara turned when she heard Mary call out to her. Glancing at the woman Mary was gesturing to, Sara breathed in sharply. Grissom, who was standing beside her, placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Although they had never met in person, Grissom knew who this woman was simply by looking at her. It had been over twenty years since Sara had last seen her, and apart from the extrawrinkles in the face and the grey hair, she remained exactly the same.

"Sara," the woman called softly.

"What do you want?" Sara replied bitterly.

"I wanted to see you, I wanted to talk to you," the woman replied almost desperately. Sara stared at the woman for a moment.

"Well I don't want to talk to you," she replied as she pushed past the woman and entered the lab. Grissom watched her go, knowing that Sara would need time to cool off before he went to find her. The woman turned to face him.

"I should have know that that would be her response," she replied wearily.

"She's just in shock. Today wasn't a particularly good day for you to make a reappearance in her life."

"You must be Gil Grissom," the woman said. "I'm –,"

"Laura Sidle," Grissom finished.

"I take it that you have heard about me."

"Sara doesn't really like to talk about her past, most of it I have had to find for myself."

"If I was Sara, I probably wouldn't like to talk about the past either," Laura paused. "Should you be going to comfort her?" she asked curiously.

"If I did that she would probably bite my head off. She needs time to cool off. Perhaps it would be best for you to come back here another day."

"Probably," Laura agreed. She looked him up and down before nodding slowly. "I see that she is being well looked after, thank you Mr Grissom." Laura Sidle gave him a sad smile and turned and headed for the exit. Grissom watched her leave, before heading into the lab to find his shocked wife.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews. I apologise for the wait for this chapter, but it is my longest yet so hopefully that counts for something. Thanks to all my loyal readers who have stayed with this story from the beginning, I thank you for your patience with me. I know Grissom and Sara are OOC in this chapter, but they are supposed to be. They are a family again, and have changed from the people that they were before Maddie was found. Also, as I am not an American, I am not positive of the way the law works in Nevada. So I acknowledge that my courtroom scene may have absolutely no resmeblence to what would actually happen in real life. It works for the story however, so I am going to leave it the way it is. Thanks for reading. – Lizzie. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR – How do you forget the past, when the past come back to haunt you?

A/N: Post Bloodlines

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

Sara raced down the corridor to the only place she knew that she could be alone. Entering Grissom's office, she closed the door behind her. Leaning against the door Sara tried to take deep breaths and slow down her racing heart. When it came to Laura Sidle, Sara never knew what to think. She hated her for taking away her father, she admired her for standing up for herself. She felt ashamed, hurt, relieved and frustrated all at the same time. The woman in the foyer looked vaguely like the mother she remembered. Definitely older and greyer, 20 years behind bars had taken its toll on the woman who before that night had been famous for her home-made chocolate cupcakes. Sara closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on her breathing, but she was finding it difficult. She suddenly felt claustrophobic, unable to catch her breath, she stumbled her way over to one of the chairs in front of Grissom's desk. Her chest began to hurt with the effort of breathing, her heart beat erratic in her chest.

There was a soft knock on the door and Sara tried to answer but found herself unable to speak. Grissom entered the room and saw Sara slumped over in the chair and almost immediately knew what was going on. Hurrying to her side, he took her hands in his and made her look up at him.

"Come on Sara, breathe, breathe for me. Come on. Breathe." Grissom encouraged her. Matching his breathing to hers he tried to calm her down. "Come on, honey. Do you have any of your medication?" Sara nodded and managed to say 'locker'. "Ok, hold on, keep trying to breathe." Racing out of his office. Grissom ran into Nick.

"Nick, can you go to Sara's locker. There should be a bottle of pills in there, can you bring them to my office please, and hurry."

"Sure," Nick replied racing off in the direction of the locker room. Grissom went back into his office to try and calm his anxious wife.

Still in the throws of a panic attack, Sara was looking worse for wear.

"Has it been awhile?" he asked her. Kneeling down in front of her. Sara nodded, trying to match his breathing. He gently rubbed her back soothingly.

"Keep breathing, I need you to keep breathing. It's all alright. Everything will be alright. I promise, you everything will be ok." Nick ran into the room clutching the orange bottle of pills.

"Grissom, I got 'em," Nick said, breathing heavily from his run, handing the bottle to Grissom. His eyes falling on Sara.

"Hey Sar, you alright?"

"She'll be fine. Come on Sara, open up." Sara opened her mouth and Grissom placed a pill into her mouth, and she accepted the bottle of water that Nick passed her. Swallowing the pill. They waited for it to take effect. The pain in Sara's chest was becoming unbearable. The air not coming in any easier. Grissom started rubbing her back again, as Nick looked on uncertain of what was going on, and not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, the pain eased and the air became easier to breathe. Grissom wiped away her tears of frustration that had fallen down her cheeks.

"You alright?" Sara nodded.

"Thank you," she whispered huskily.

"You sure you're ok, Sar?" Nick asked uncertainly.

"It was just an anxiety attack, it's been a while since I've had one. I'm ok now," Sara explained. NIck accepted the explanation and nodded at Grissom before he turned to leave.

"Thanks, Nick," Grissom said gratefully, standing up and closing the door behind Nick.

"That was a pretty bad one."

"I haven't had one like that since the her trial."

"You really ok?" he asked. Sara shrugged.

"Yeah… No… I'm not sure," she replied honestly. Grissom sat down in the chair next to her, and took her hand in his.

"You want to go home? Pick Maddie up and take her somewhere?" he asked. Sara looked like she was about to argue, but he stopped her. "I just think you might need to get your mind off of things for a little while." Sara glanced down at their hands.

"You're probably right," she replied with a small smile.

"I know," he replied in a voice so sincere that Sara had to laugh. "When you're ready, I'm here. Talk to me."

Sara looked into her husband's eyes, and saw the loyalty and love in his eyes, and she fell for him all over again.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For giving me the space that I need to deal with this."

"Sara, I know you have demons from your past that you haven't fully dealt with yet. It's going to be hard, and it's going to take time, but we will get through this together as a family. Ok?" he asked. Sara nodded, and Grissom pulled her in for a hug. They would get through this, Sara thought, they had to.

* * *

Several hours later, Grissom heard Sara and Maddie entered their home making a racquet and laughing hysterically, a sound that seemed like heaven to Grissom's ears. Turning down the heat of the stove, he made his way into the living room just in time to see his girls stagger into the room laden down with shopping bags. 

"What did you do, buy the mall?" Grissom asked and signed at the same time.

"Gil!" Sara exclaimed, nudging Maddie and pointing towards the kitchen entrance.

"Daddy!" Maddie yelled, dropping her bags on the floor and racing over to give Grissom a hug.

"What are you doing home, I didn't think we would see you to tomorrow." Sara said, placing her load down on the sofa.

"Neither did I, but we have a suspect in for questioning, we think it's the guy. Catherine's doing the interview, Brass wouldn't let me near him. Besides, it will be at least another couple of hours before we can do anything, we are still waiting for the warrant. So I thought that I would come home and see how my favourite girls were doing," Grissom explained, signing the last part for Maddie's benefit.

"Mom and I went shopping," Maddie said with a huge grin on her face.

"I can see that, tell me what you bought," Grissom spoke and signed. As Maddie launched into a explanation of what she bought, why she bought it and what she didn't buy but thought about, Sara watched them for a few moments and then the smell of something burning, caught her attention. Quietly she slipped away into the kitchen, and quickly located the source. Opening the oven door, she removed the burnt pieces of garlic bread and put them in the bin. Deciding against making more, she stirred the spaghetti sauce in the saucepan as she listened to Maddie's delighted giggles. Sara smiled to herself, this is what our life should have been like, she found herself thinking sadly.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Grissom come up behind her and she jumped as he placed his arms around her waist.

"Sorry," Grissom mumbled into her shoulder.

"It's alright, you just scared me that's all." Sara continued to stir the sauce. "I hope it was ok," Sara asked.

"What?"

"Taking Maddie shopping, buying all that stuff, I just thought – " Grissom gently turned Sara around in his arms so that she was facing him.

"Sara, its fine anything you want you can have," Sara looked up into his eyes.

"Anything?" she asked an evil glint in her eyes.

"Within reason," Grissom replied with a chuckle. Sara pouted and then laughed.

"Thank you for making dinner."

"It was absolutely no problem. Why don't you go sit down and relax and I will serve up dinner."

"Sounds good, I'll go get our girl." Sara stood on her tip toes and gave Grissom a soft kiss on the lips, before going off to search for Maddie.

* * *

"_Sara, buttercup, dinner is ready!" Laura Sidle called from the small dining room in the family wing of the bed and breakfast. A six-year-old Sara came racing down the stairs carrying her favourite book. _

"_Whatcha got there?"_

"_The Welwteen Wabbit," a toothless Sara replied, clutching her book tightly to her chest. _

"_Well you need to put it aside so that it doesn't get dirty." _

"_Otay." Sara placed the book down on the cabinet in the corner, just as the door to the room opened with a bang. Steven Sidle stormed into the room, a furious look on his face. _

"_Steven, baby, are you alright?" _

"_They fired me!" Steven yelled, throwing his bag down onto the ground, and Sara began to back into a corner. _

"_Steven, you're scaring Sara," Laura scolded carrying a casserole dish to the table. _

"_They FIRED me Laura. I no longer have a job!" Steven began to pace around the room. _

"_It's ok, you'll get another job." Steven grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and took a seat at the table he began to pour himself a drink. _

"_After everything I have done for them!" Steven continued to yell. "They think they have the right to fire me!" _

"_Steven, please!" Laura said, dishing the casserole out onto the plates. Steven poured himself another drink, downing it as fast as he did the first one. He continued to yell, getting angrier and angrier, as Laura begged him to quieten down. _

_Sara curled herself up into a ball in the corner, her hands over her ears. Watching through wide eyes as her father became drunker and drunker, meaner and meaner. She watched as he threw the now cold casserole against the wall and hitting her mother, in the stomach, the arm and back. Sara watched as he began to sway on his feet, the empty bottle of whiskey falling from his grasp, shattering on the floor. She shielded herself from the debris as flying shards of glass embedded themselves in her arms, her legs protected by the jeans that she wore, and her face hidden by her arms. She heard a loud thump and looked up to see her father lying on the floor not far from where the bottle had fallen. She looked over at her mother who was in a similar position to Sara, as tears streamed down her face. _

_The pain in her arms, from where the pieces of glass had lodged themselves, began to set in as the adrenaline began to lose its effect. She watched with fascination as the little red drops slowly made their way down her arm, dripping onto the floor. She didn't remember her mother picking her up. She didn't remember the looks on the faces of the guests as they left the B&B, she didn't remember the ride to the hospital, or even getting the stiches. She only remembered watching the blood trail down her arm, and knowing that it was her father that had made it happen. She only remembered it as the beginning of her life in hell.

* * *

_

Sara ran her hands down her arms, trying to keep the chills away. The weather in Vegas was warm, but she only felt cold. Glancing down at her arms, she could still see the faint marks, now stretched and slightly distorted, but still visible. Only one of many reminders of a time she wished she could forget. Her mother's sudden reappearance in her life had thrown things off balance for a while. Maddie did not know about Laura Sidle, as far as she knew the Charlton's were her mother's parents. Sara had never wanted the two to meet. As far as she was concerned, Laura Sidle was from another life. A life that was completely different to the one she had now. Sighing softly, she rubbed her arms again, and jumped slightly when a sweater was draped across her shoulders.

"You looked cold," Grissom explained with a sheepish look on his face.

"Thank you," Sara said accepting the sweater, putting it on.

"It's a beautiful night," Grissom said leaning over the railing that ran along their back porch, so that he could look up at the sky.

"Yeah it is," Sara agreed. "Did she get to bed ok?"

"She was so excited about her field trip this morning. She was telling me all about the bugs she saw," Grissom replied with a chuckle.

"I know she managed to freak out one of the shop assistants this afternoon."

Grissom came to stand behind her and ran his hands down her arms. She involuntarily shivered.

"Are you feeling alright?" Grissom asked concernedly. Sara shrugged, and he turned her in his arms. "Sara?"

"I'm not ready to deal with all of this. I wasn't prepared." Grissom studied her face.

"I know," he said, pulling her in for a hug.

"I don't know what I feel for her. I hate her and love her at the same time. She took away my father, who I loved, and the drunk that I hated. I didn't know how to feel then and I don't know now."

"No one is expecting you to know how you feel, probably least of all your mother. She just wants to see you to talk to you."  
"What? Did you talk to her?" Sara asked pulling away from him, her voice tinged with anger.

"Only for a moment after you left." Sara looked at him incredulously.

"So you're doing things for her now?"

"Come on Sara, don't be like that. She was just concerned about you. She just wanted to see you." Sara turned and began to walk inside.

"Well I don't want to see her!"

"Why not?" Grissom asked, stopping her on the threshold.

"Because I can't forgive her for what she did!" Sara fumed.

"I don't believe that she has asked for your forgiveness." Sara turned to face him. "She just wants to see you. That's all. I can be with you the whole time if you if you want. You don't have to go through this alone." The lines on Sara's face softened.

"Why do you so desperately want me to see her?" she asked, her voice shakey.

"Because you have unresolved issues with her, and you need to work them out. It's time to move on Sara." Her shoulders sagged as she contemplated her options.

"What are we going to tell Maddie?" she said eventually.

"What ever you want. Though, I feel that the sooner she knows, the better it will be."

"I'm not ready for her to know just yet," she said taking a step towards him.

"Ok, then we won't for the time being," Grissom wrapped his arms around her, and she stiffened.

"You promise that you will be there?"

"Always," he promised her, placing a kiss on her head, and she relaxed in his arms.

* * *

Paul Quince bit into the jelly-filled donut that had been fresh several hours ago, but had already started to go stale. Grimacing slightly he sipped his cold coffee and cursed, not for the first time, his lousy job. This isn't where he wanted to be. A disgraced FBI agent and recently divorced forty-two year old man, sitting in a car outside a brothel in the slums of Las Vegas watching for signs of a murderer recently released from jail. 

The ringing of his cell phone brought him out of his self-loathing.

"Quince," he answered his voice gruff.

"Mr Paul Quince?" a timid female voice asked him.

"Yeah, who's this?"

"My name is Laura Sidle, I was asked to call you when I arrived in Las Vegas."

"Sidle, weren't you supposed to get here this morning?"

"Yes I was, but I went to visit my daughter and then I had to find a place to stay."

"You're not staying with your daughter?" he asked, wiping off the gloop of jelly that had fallen onto his leather jacker.

"She…" Laura paused. "She has her own family and she didn't have any room," she lied.

"Didn't want to see you, eh?" Paul asked, feeling sorry for the woman. He had read her file, she seemed harmless, a battered wife who had killed her husband in the heat of the moment, something that nowadays she probably wouldn't have gone to jail for. Not with the Battered Woman Syndrome defence. She had stayed out of trouble in jail and so she had been allowed to go free.

"Uh, yeah, I… uh… she had a tough time when I went away."

"Yeah, they always do," Paul replied as he spied his target leaving the brothel.

"Listen Ms Sidle, I have to go. Are you settled for the night?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. Paul turned the key in the ignition and began to follow the station wagon that the man had gotten into.

"Good ok, if you need anything you can call me. If you get into trouble, call me. You need to meet up with me once a fortnight. I will call you and let you know when. Ok?"

"Yes."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later." Paul hung up the phone, keeping an eye on the station wagon that was two cars ahead. The set of lights ahead turned yellow and Paul began to slow down. The station wagon, however, sped up racing through the intersection. Paul cursed as the car in front of him came to a stop at the red light.

"Shit," Paul cursed, banging his fist on the steering wheel. He picked up his cell phone, and pressed 3 on speed dial. "Frank? Yeah it's Paul. I've been better. I lost the guy at a set of lights. There's too many cars to try and find his. My target? Yeah it's Isaacs, Graham Isaacs."

* * *

A/N: Ok, so hands up if you are mad at me? I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. There are a number of reasons why I haven't updated in a while. Firstly my life has been crazy hectic this semester at uni/college. I haven't had time to do anything, let alone write. Second of all, I am currently integrating this story with another story I had been writing about Sara's mother coming back into her life and I have had some problems with continuity, but I am gradually sorting them all out. Lastly, I confess that I lost a lot of motivation for this story for a while. I really do love this story and I want to be able to write quality chapters, so I didn't want to write just for the sake of getting the chapters out there. Does that make sense? Thank you to all those that have faithfully hung in there I am grateful for your support. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take so long. Catch you all later, and until then, happy reading. 

A/N2: Ok slight change was made, i accidently uploaded the wrong version. For those of you who can't be bothered reading it again, basically Graham Isaacs was in jail for murder not paedophilia. Sorry for any inconvenience.


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